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•ECOND COPY 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap... Copyright No 

Shelf___..\J_^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




PHOTOGRAPH BY MORRISON 






1 T J Mrf 



tJUrtunA^ 




Autograph Edition 

THE 

Woman Beautiful 



BY 



MME. QUI VIVE 

(HBLEN FOLLBTT STEVANS, OF THE "CHICAGO TIMES-HERALD") 



CHICAGO 
STEVANS & HANDY 

PUBLISHERS 



3» 



COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY 
STEVANS & HANDY 



30639 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 

I • 01899 



LC Control Number 




^MtQl'sVD ^pgg 028655 



TO MY TIMES-HERALD CORRESPONDENTS — 
AND EVERY WOMAN WITH A BEAUTY-WOE 



My gratitude is due the Chicago 
Times-Herald for the privilege 
of reprinting most of the reci- 
pes and material in this book. 



PREFACE 

The Woman Beautiful is not a radiant crea- 
ture of gorgeous plumage and artificial beauty, 
but a woman of wholesome health, good hard 
sense, sparkling vivacity and sweet lovable- 
ness. Her beauty-creed hangs not from rouge 
pots and bleaches, but suspends like a banner 
of truth from the laws of wise, hygienic living. 
Her cheeks are tinted with the glow that comes 
from good, well -circulated blood, her eyes are 
bright and lovely because her mind is so, and 
her complexion is transparent and soft and 
velvety for the reason that the true art is 
known to her. The Woman Beautiful is all 
sincerity. She doesn't like to sail under false 
colors and so insult old Dame Nature, whose 
kindnesses and benefits are so well meant and 
freely offered. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Complexion 9 

Expression 14 

Useless Beauty 16 

Washing the Face 20 

Facial Eruptions and Blackheads ... 23 

Tan, Sunburn and Freckles . . . . 27 

Complexion Powders 32 

Wrinkles 35 

Recipes for the Complexion . . . .39 

Care of the Hair 46 

Dressing the Hair (" 56 

Superfluous Hair 63 

Recipes for the Hair 65 

The Hands . 68 

Bathing the Hands 71 

Care of the Finger Nails .... 73 

Recipes for the Hands 75 

5 



6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Eyes 79 

The Girl Who Cries 33 

The Eyelashes ...... 86 

The Eyebrows . . . . . . .86 

The Teeth 88 

Bathing 93 

Diet 100 

Sleep 109 

Exercise 114 

Stooped Shoulders . . . . , 125 

Breathing 130 

Massage 136 

Dress ......... 144 

The Thin Girl 149 

The Plump Girl 154 

The Working Girl 161 

The Nervous One 167 

Perfumes ........ 174 



The Woman Beautiful 



THE COMPLEXION 

The bloom of opening flowers, unsullied beauty, 
Softness and sweetest innocence she wears, 
And looks like Nature in the world's first Spring. 

— Rowc. 

Bad complexions cause more heartaches than 
crushed ambitions and cases of sudden poverty. 
The reason is plain. Ordinary troubles roll 
away from the mind of a cheery, energetic 
woman like water from a duck's back, but 
beauty worries — well ! they have the most 
amazingly insistent way of sticking to one. 
You may say you won't think of them, but you 
do just the same. 

It was always thus, and thus it always will 
be. 

Diogenes searched untiringly for an honest 
man — so they say. Woman, bless her dear, 

9 



io THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

ambitious heart, seeks with tmabating energy 
the ways and means of becoming beautiful. 

After all, they're not so hard to find when 
once the secret of it is known. Like the 
keys and things rattling about in her undis- 
coverable pocket, they're right with her. If 
she will but stop her fretting for a moment, 
sit down and think, then gird on her armor and 
begin the task — why, that's all that's needed. 

There are three great rules for beauty. 
The first is diet, the second bathing, and the 
third exercise. All can be combined in the 
one word health. But, alas! how few of us 
have come into the understanding of correct 
living! It is woman's impulse — so I have found 
— to buy a jar of cream and expect a miracle 
to be worked on a bad complexion in one 
brief night. How absurd, when the cause of 
the worry may be a bad digestion, impure 
blood or general lack of vitality! One might 
just as well expect a corn plaster to cure a bad 
case of pneumonia, or an eye lotion to remedy 
locomotor ataxia. The cream may struggle 
bravely and heal the little eruptions for a day 
or so, but how can it possibly effect a per- 



THE COMPLEXION 1 1 

manent cure when the cause flourishes like a 
blizzard at Medicine Hat or a steam radiator 
in the first warm days of April? 

Cold cream, pure powders and certain harm- 
less face washes are godsends to womankind, 
but they can't do everything! They have their 
limitations, just like any other good thing. 
You may have a perfect paragon of a kitchen 
lady, whose angel food is more heavenly than 
frapped snowflakes, but you can't really expect 
her to build you a four-story house with little 
dofunnies on the cupolas. Of course not. 
Angel cake is her limit! And that's the way 
with those lovely liquids and things on your 
pretty spindle-legged dressing table. They 
can do a good deal in the beautifying line, but 
they can't do everything. Give them the help 
of perfect health and scrupulous cleanliness of 
the skin, and lo! what wonders they will work! 

There is but one way — and it's so simple — of 
making oneself good to look upon. Resolve to 
live hygienically. There is nothing in the 
world which works swifter toward a clear, 
glowing, fine -textured and beautiful com- 
plexion than a simple, natural diet of grains 



12 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

and nuts and fruits. But you women — oh ! it 
positively pains me to think of the broiled 
lobsters, the deviled crabs with tartar sauce, 
the pickles, and the conglomerate nightmare- 
lunches that you consume. And yet you're for- 
ever fussing over leathery skins, dark-circled 
eyes and a lack of rosy pink cheeks. Oh, 
woman! woman! why aren't you wise? 

Here are some rules. They're golden, 
too: 

Eat with wisdom and good sense. That 
means to pension off the pie and its companion 
workers of physical woe. 

Take a tepid sponge bath every day, either 
upon arising in the morning or just before 
going to bed. 

Limit the hot scrubbings to one a week. 

Exercise with regularity, and dress as a 
rational human being should. 

Drink three pints of pure, distilled water 
every day. 

See that the bedroom is well ventilated, and 
don't heap up the pillows until you have a 
mountain range upon which to rest your poor, 
tired head. A flat bed and a low pillow help 



THE COMPLEXION 13 

toward a fine, straight figure and a good car- 
riage. 

Keep your feet warm. Give those pretty 
round yellow silk garters to the girl you hate, 
and invest in sensible hose supporters. If 
your circulation is defective, wear wool stock- 
ings. 

Don't fret. Bear in mind what Sheridan said : 

"A night of fretful passion may consume 
All that thou hast of beauty's gentle bloom; 
And one distempered hour of sordid fear 
Prints on thy brow the wrinkles of a year." 

Then rest. Don't, I beg of you, live on the 
ragged edge of your nerve force. You need 
quiet, and all you can get of it. We victims 
of civilization go through life at a breakneck 
gallop, and it's an immense mistake. Any- 
how, those who know say so. And it sounds 
reasonable. 

But, after all, the complexion is only a small 
part toward the making of a beautiful woman. 
The hair must be kept sweet and clean and 
healthy, and the teeth should be white and 
lovely. It was Rousseau, you know, who said 



14 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

that no woman with good teeth could be ugly. 
Then the hands and nails must have proper 
attention. Deep breathing should be practiced 
daily and the body properly exercised. The 
carriage must be graceful, the walk easy and 
without effort, the eyes bright, the expression 
of the face cheerful and animated, the shoulders 
and head well poised — but all these are differ- 
ent stories. There's a chapter in each one of 
them. 

Above all, remember this one rule: Don't 
fret. Don't wear a look of trouble and worry. 
Above everything else, remember those de- 
licious lines of the immortal bard : 

"You have such a February face, 
So full of frost, of storm, of cloudiness." 

And after remembering, refrain. 

EXPRESSION. 

One of the first things to remember in the 
cultivation of beauty is expression. Who 
doesn't enjoy looking upon the young girl, 
with a bright, cheerful face, laughing eyes and 
all that? Everybody! And when the grumpy 



THE COMPLEXION IS 

lady or the whiney lady or the lady of woes 
trots in and sullies your near landscape, how 
do you feel? Just about as cheery as if she'd 
come to ask you to attend a funeral ! 

My dear girls, it doesn't matter if you have 
got a freckle or two, or if your nose does tilt 
up just a little too much, if you have a jolly, 
bright face people will call you pretty. You 
can count on that every time. Good nature is 
a splendid beautifier. It brightens the eyes, 
discourages approaching wrinkles, and brings 
the apple blossom tints into your cheeks. 

Another thing to remember is this : Keep the 
mind active. There's nothing that will make 
a stolid, bovine face like a brain that isn't made 
to get up and hustle. Don't sit around and 
read lovey-dovey novels or spend your time 
chatting with that stupid woman next door. 
Don't forget that life is short and there's not a 
moment to waste. When hubby discusses the 
question of expansion just pipe up and show 
him what you know about it. Don't get into 
an argument with him, but let him see that you 
read the papers and that you know a thing or 
two about passing events. 



16 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Then don't stay cooped up in the house. Go 
out every day, if it's only to the corner mar- 
ket, and if you have to wade through snow- 
drifts. In short, be up and doing. Don't 
dwell on past griefs or griefs that have not yet 
arrived. Study is mental development, and 
mental development usually means a bright, 
pleasing expression. 

USELESS BEAUTY. 

As a general rule, the man of brains and 
good sense — and he's the only man worth con- 
sidering seriously — heartily despises the useless 
beauty. By this I mean the woman who is 
always togged up and crimped and curled and 
looks as if she were not worth a row of pins 
except as a means of livelihood to the modistes 
and the milliners and the hairdressers! The 
kind of beauty that I like is the sort that is 
active, doing, achieving, and working for some 
good. I believe, and fully too, that we can all 
appear at our best and yet not look as if we 
were made of cut glass and Dresden that would 
crack or break or peel off if the lake winds 
happened to take a fancy to blow our way. 



THE COMPLEXION 17 

It may sound at a frightful variance from the 
general preaching of the beauty teacher, but — 
between you and me and the ice cream soda 
that we do not drink because it upsets our 
stomachs and ruins our complexions — I have 
simply no use whatever for the little girl who 
puts in the entire day (and half the night) 
fussing over her complexion, kinking her hair 
into seventeen little twists and curlycues, and 
dabbling lotions and things on her nose till you 
can't rest. A certain amount of all this is 
necessary, but don't give your life over to it. 
The waste of time is enough to make one want 
to be a Patagonian lady whose sole adornments 
in the beautifying line consist of a necklace of 
elephant's teeth and a few Patagonian babies. 
When beautifying gets to the stage where one 
has no time for mental refurbishing it ceases 
to be beauty culture, and is simply nonsense 
and loss of time. 

I can spot this class of women a block away. 
In my mind' s eye I can see them fussing and 
primping for hours before they are ready to 
don their street clothes and get down into the 
shopping district for the day's work of pricing 



1 8 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

real lace and buying hairpins. And I always 
look around me and think of what a vast deal 
of work there is in this great, big, sorrowful 
old world, and what direful need there is of 
every one pitching in and helping. To me, 
the useless woman is not a pretty woman. She 
is an ornament, like the shepherdess on the 
mantelpiece or the Spanish lady in the picture 
frame that hangs in the hallway. But the 
other woman — the pretty and the useful woman 
— oh, but she is a sight to make old eyes grow 
young. Her gown is spotless, her hair all fluffy 
and lovely, her hat just at the correct angle. 
She steps along quickly, and you know by the 
very air about her that she is a worker, be she 
of the smart set or of the humdrum life that toils 
and spins from morn till eve. Her eyebrows 
are not penciled, there is not a trace of rouge 
on her cheeks, but she is a healthy, well-built, 
active woman, whose very appearance of neat- 
ness, sweetness and buoyancy tells all who 
see her that she is a devotee of the daily bath, 
the dumb-bells, the correct and hygienic life. 
In half an hour any woman should be able to 
take her plunge, coddle her complexion, dress 



THE COMPLEXION 19 

her hair, manicure her nails, and attend to her 
teeth. If more time be needed, then the work 
is hardly worth the while, for life is mighty 
short, my dears, and things that must be done 
pile up as the years go by. At night in fifteen 
minutes the face and hands can be well 
washed, the hair brushed and combed and 
plaited, the teeth well cleaned, and the com- 
plexion massaged with a little pure home-made 
cream. Of course, when the hair is shampooed 
or the nails manicured with particular care, or 
the complexion subjected to a thorough cleans- 
ing by steam or massage, then more time is 
necessary. 

But the gist of it all is this : Let us not spend 
so much time on the exterior effect that we 
will forget that which is most necessary to a 
beautiful woman — the bright, interesting 
mind, the love of learning things, the desire to 
be keeping apace with just a little bit of the t 
world's progress, and, best of all, teaching 
oneself how to live wisely and well. There 
never was — to my way of thinking — a brain- 
less, silly woman who was beautiful. It takes 
the light of intellect, the splendor of sweet 



20 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

womanliness, the glory of kindness, unselfish- 
ness and goodness to complete a perfect picture 
of "the woman beautiful. " 

WASHING THE FACE. 

A good old stand-by query is about the sim- 
ple matter of keeping one's face clean. There 
is no manner of doubt but that the hard water 
which we have in the cities is responsible for 
many complexion ills, and that we must not use 
it too generously upon our complexions if we 
long for the colors of the rose and the lily in 
our cheeks. There is nothing in the world so 
excellent as rain-water for the skin, but it's a 
great bulging problem as to how those of us 
who live in yardless flats and apartments can 
manage to catch the elusive rain-drops. We 
might as well hope to lasso an electric car and 
hitch it onto our back porches for the babies to 
play in, I think. When city people persist in 
telling others to wash their faces in rain-water 
and thus secure beauty everlasting and glori- 
ous, I always have a mental picture of a fran- 
tic lady with golden locks a-streaming and her 
eyes brimful of wildness, rushing madly down 



THE COMPLEXION 21 

the street with basins and things in her out- 
stretched hands. It's all right if one has rain- 
barrels or cisterns, but, after years of perspir- 
ing and nerve-sizzling flat hunting, I have 
failed to find apartments provided with either 
of these luxuries. With folding beds built in 
the sleeping apartments and steam radiators 
with real steam in them, the landlords feel that 
their duties are done. 

But to return to our muttons. Those who 
cannot have real rain-water should use the 
harder brand sparingly on their faces. A 
thorough scrubbing at night before going to 
bed is an absolute necessity, lest the pores of 
the skin become clogged with the smoke and 
dust of our murky atmosphere. A little 
castile soap and a camel' s-hair face brush will 
assist the cleansing operation. To soften the 
water, I would advise the following delightful 
lotion: 

Four ounces of alcohol. 
One ounce ammonia. 
One dram oil of lavender. 

One teaspoonful to a large basin of water 



22 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

is sufficient. To keep the skin free from 
harshness and on unpleasant terms with 
wrinkles and turkey tracks, a little pure cold 
cream should be used. If, in the morning, 
the skin has not absorbed all the oils of the 
cream, then wipe away with a cloth just 
slightly moistened. When at other times the 
face needs washing, let me suggest that this 
toilet milk be used. It is also excellent to 
apply before fluffing powder over the cheeks : 

Milk of violets : 

Cucumber juice, boiled and cooled, one 
ounce. 

Spirit of soap, one ounce. 

Rosewater or orange flower water, four 
ounces. 

By remembering that there are two table- 
spoonfuls to the ounce, the measuring will not 
be at all difficult. If one wishes a stronger 
perfume add a few drops of violet extract. 
Whether rosewater or orange flower be used is 
left to one's own choice. They are equally 
excellent for the skin. 



THE COMPLEXION 23 

FACIAL ERUPTIONS AND BLACKHEADS. 

With most women, pimples are caused by 
indigestion or constipation. Unless the body- 
throws off its waste material as it should, the 
poisonous matter will endeavor to find a way- 
out through the pores of the skin. The face, 
being the most sensitive, is usually the first 
part of the body to be afflicted. The remedy 
for facial blemishes is found in exercise, baths 
and a careful diet. And that reminds me that 
I would like to remark right here that the 
combinations that girls and women get when 
they order lunches are appalling enough to 
raise the hair right off one's head, most partic- 
ularly if one has any idea at all of the general 
rules of hygiene and health. 

It is just as easy to put beautifying foods into 
your stomach if you will but once make up 
your mind to it. And what a host of trouble it 
will save you ! Not only in~cosmetics, but doc- 
tor bills. What you eat is the fuel that keeps 
the engine of life going. Good food makes 
good strong muscles, pure blood and a fair, 
healthy, firm skin. If there are troublesome 



24 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

little blotches on your face then mend your 
eating ways, even though it breaks your heart 
to give up those awful and indigestible dainties 
that you dote on so religiously. In place of 
the pastries and the sweets and the pickles and 
the highly spiced dishes, substitute fruit and 
vegetables. Save all those nickels and dimes 
that you invest in ice cream soda, and instead 
exchange them for lemons and oranges that 
will help drive away the unsightly pimples and 
red blemishes. If possible, make your entire 
breakfast of fruit, either cooked or raw. If 
the apples and oranges and peaches and pears 
do not make active the digestive organs, then 
go to a reliable druggist and have this harm- 
less and excellent prescription filled : 

Extract of dandelion, one dram. 
Powdered rhubarb, q. s. 

Divide into three and one-half grain pills 
and take one every night, or oftener if neces- 
sary. 

A state of nervousness will ofttimes bring a 
heart-wringing crop of eruptions to the surface 
of the skin, and this condition is best remedied 



THE COMPLEXION 25 

by plenty of baths, lots of fresh air, exercise, 
and a stiff but cheerful determination to brace 
up and not have any nerves — which, by the 
way, is much easier said than done, as most of 
us know to our sorrow. 

No matter of what order the facial eruptions 
may be, they must be treated with the greatest 
gentleness possible. There is nothing in the 
world worse than rubbing them with a coarse 
towel, a proceeding strongly advised by the 
old-fashioned ones who — bless their hearts — 
are so likely to stick to old-timey notions till 
the cows come home, no matter what argu- 
ments may be brought up to convince them of 
their mistaken views. 

Pimples must never be irritated. Breaking 
or bruising the skin only adds to its diseased 
condition and general irritation. If the com- 
plexion is unsightly with red blotches, a solu- 
tion of boric acid in boiling water, used warm, 
will be an effective lotion. Its application 
should, of course, be combined with proper liv- 
ing as laid out above, care being taken as to 
diet, exercise and the tepid daily bath. A 
good cold cream should also be used. I have 



26 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

been told by many that continuous applications 
of creme marquise had done away with pim- 
ples and blackheads, and it is frequently found 
that nothing more than a sensible diet and 
some simple pure face cosmetic is needed. 
When the skin is merely inflamed — that is, red 
of color and very tender, there is nothing 
better than a soothing cream like this. Lister- 
ine, witch hazel and eau de cologne are all 
good as external lotions for pimples. A paste 
of sulphur and spirits of camphor, which 
should be put on at night and washed off the 
following morning, will do good work, pro- 
vided the beauty patient knows the laws of 
health. 

When there are both blackheads and pim- 
ples the latter must first be gotten rid of. 
When the skin is perfectly free of these, then 
begin with a camel's hair face-scrubbing brush 
to do away with the blackheads. Wash the 
face thoroughly with the brush every night 
just before going to bed, using warm water 
and pure castile soap. If the blackheads are 
very bad add alcohol to the water. That is 
very cleansing, but as it is also drying, a face 



THE COMPLEXION 27 

cream must be smeared on immediately after 
the face is rinsed and wiped. For some days 
it may seem that the pores are large and coarse 
and open, but they are simply undergoing a 
cleansing process that in the end will bring a 
lovely white, perfect skin. Whenever I hear 
women say that they never wash their faces, 
but use a cream instead, I always wonder if 
they really feel clean. I am sure I would not. 
Fancy the state of our hands were we never to 
wash them! And the face, having more oil 
glands, is in still greater need of soap and 
water. However, let me say right here that 
no soap at all is better than a cheap scented 
soap, and unless the very best and purest soaps 
can be had it is much more desirable to substi- 
tute almond meal or something of the sort. 
Treatment for blackheads calls for the same 
care of the health as does treatment for pim- 
ples. 

TAN, SUNBURN AND FRECKLES. 

Tan, like borrowing friends, and various 
other afflictions, is aw T fully easy to get, but 
really more than passing difficult to remove. It 



28 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

is delightful to sit on a big bowlder that dots a 
great, lovely, sandy waste and watch your 
hands gradually turn from their customary 
whiteness to a deep burnt orange. One has to 
have something to show for a trip out of town, 
one thinks, else the doubting Thomases will 
arise and give vent to suspicions that one has 
been merely concealing oneself in an attic or 
back bedroom. It is pleasant, too, to go fishing, 
with a dainty, absurd little hat that, although 
it looks pretty, is about as useful as would be a 
beaten biscuit pinned to one's tresses. You 
feel your nose becoming unusually warm, and 
it begins to tingle and smart as if the pores 
were filling up with hot sand. All of which is 
quite in keeping with summer-resort existence, 
and you are as proud as Lucifer when you trail 
back to town to show this cerise-tinted evi- 
dence of your outing. 

But the friends who you thought would envy 
you giggle and smirk and nudge each other and 
make suggestions that are supposed to be 
mirth-compelling. And then and there you 
decide to do differently next summer. A sun- 
burned nose may be a treasurable possession 



THE COMPLEXION 29 

away from town, but back among the hosts of 
the city it is a different matter. More than 
that, it is an affliction. 

If the weeks at the seashore or the lakes 
would only brown the summer girl it would not 
matter so much. But instead of making the 
skin a beautiful, poetical olive tint, it usually 
turns it to a hue which is best compared to the 
flaunting colors of the auctioneer's emblem. 
If the girl is reckless, if she runs here and 
there without a hat, and gives never a moment 
to the care of her skin, her own mother is not 
likely to recognize her unless the summer girl 
soon repents and mends her ways. 

What mischief Old Sol cannot do, the brisk 
winds will contribute. The result is usually 
a red-eyed, red-nosed, flakey-skinned little 
woman, whom one would never suspect of 
having been rollicking through a few weeks of 
midsummer joys. If her ears are not blistered, 
her nose is, and if her complexion is not harsh 
and rough from lack of care, it is bespeckled 
with freckles and covered with a deep layer of 
golden brown tan that has distributed itself like 
patches on a crazy quilt. 



30 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

There is not one woman in forty who can 
afford to ignore the ordinary precautions for 
preserving her complexion during the summer 
months. 

A parasol is the first necessity. A white 
gauze veil is another, although this can be dis- 
pensed with if the skin is not particularly sensi- 
tive to sun and wind. Never, under any 
circumstances, must you bathe your face in 
soap and water before going out of door or 
just after coming in. This habit will make the 
freckles pop out in fine order. After coming 
in from a tramp or a fishing party bathe the 
face at once in half a cupful of sweet milk in 
which a pinch of soda has been dissolved. If 
this is inconvenient, as it often is when one is 
a hotel guest and not a cottager, then use a 
good face cream. Strong soaps containing 
an excess of alkali are bad enough at any 
time, but during the hot weather they are 
particularly trying to almost any skin. Too 
much care cannot be taken to get proper 
soaps. 

The following sedative lotion applied to the 
face will prevent its tanning or freckling to any 



THE COMPLEXION 31 

extent, that is, if one takes proper care of one's 
skin: 

Distilled witch hazel, 3 ounces. 

Prepared cucumber juice, 3 ounces. 

Rosewater, 1 y^ ounces. 

Essence white rose, 1% ounces. 

Simple tincture of benzoin, one-half ounce. 

After rubbing this into the skin with the 
finger tips and letting the cuticle absorb it 
well, apply a pure vegetable powder. 

When the face becomes sunburned apply 
plenty of cold cream. But be sure that it is 
your own home-made cream, else you may be 
putting lard or something else on your face, 
which, in a most amazing short time, will 
produce a thrifty growth of tiny, fine hairs. 
And then you will wish you had never lived 
to see the coming of the " happy summer- 
time/ ' 

Lastly, to remove freckles, quickly apply 
lemon juice with a camel's hair complexion 
brush. Let the juice dry in and massage with 
creme marquise. 



32 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

COMPLEXION POWDERS. 

Whenever women fail for congenial topics of 
dispute they can always fall back on the old 
topic of the best face-powder. 

"I have used that delightful velvety 'Blush 
Rose' for years and years," says Mrs. Lovely, 
"and I think it is simply fine." 

"Blush Rose?" shrieks Mrs. Pretty. "Why, 
I wouldn't use that for a-an-any-thing! My 
husband's brother-in-law, who worked in a 
drug store, once told me that * Blush Rose' had 
lead and bismuth and ever so many other 
dreadful, awful things in it. Now, I dote on 
'Velvety Carnation.' I know that that is per- 
fectly pure. And it sticks just like your hus- 
band's relatives — simply never lets go!" 

" 'Velvety Carnation!' "repeats Mrs. Lovely. 
"You poor child. I don't wonder that you 
have such a time with your skin — " And so 
on until both charming disputants march airily 
away, each deciding that the other will soon be 
in her grave if such foolishness in the choice of 
a face powder is continued. 

Women need not discuss finances or peace 



THE COMPLEXION 33 

policies. They have their own little face-pow- 
der question that is good for all time to come, 
no matter whether we all go and settle in the 
Philippines or hand these interesting islands 
back to Spain with a "much-obliged, thank 
you. " I have often thought how thankful we 
should all be that we are not Dahomey ladies, 
who have no opportunities for these pleasant 
little arguments. We may have to put up 
with a good many discomforts in our life of 
civilization, but we don't miss quite everything 
in the way of joys. 

The formula for face powder which I am 
about to give is not only perfectly harmless, 
but of exceptional medicinal qualities. Noth- 
ing is better for an irritated skin than boracic 
acid, so the girl with facial eruptions can feel 
perfectly safe in using this powder. Oxide of 
zinc, in the quantity given, can do no possible 
injury; many of the manufactured prepara- 
tions being made almost entirely of this 
ingredient. 

Poudre des Fees (Fairy Powder) : 
i ounce Lubin's rice powder. 



34 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

3 ounces best, purest oxide of zinc. 
y 2 ounce carbonate of magnesia, finely pow- 
dered. 
20 grains boracic acid. 
2 drops attar of rose. 

When purchasing your ingredients ask the 
druggist to powder each separately in a mortar. 
First put your rice powder through a fine 
sieve, and then through bolting cloth. Do the 
same thing with the oxide of zinc, the mag- 
nesia and the boracic acid before adding them 
to the rice powder. When all are combined 
put twice through bolting cloth. After each 
sifting throw away any tiny particles that 
remain. It is very necessary that all the 
ingredients be made fine and soft and fluffy. 
Add the oil of rose last. By putting in the 
tiniest suggestion of finely powdered carmine 
you can get the cream powder, and by putting 
in still more you will have the rose or pink 
tint. While blonds, with clear, perfect skins, 
can use either the white or the pink very 
nicely, cream is the more acceptable color for 
brunettes. 



THE COMPLEXION 35 

Consuelo Powder : 
5 ounces of talcum. 
5 ounces of rice flour. 
2^ ounces of the best zinc oxide. 
2 drops each of oils of bergamot, ylang-ylang 
and neroli. 

The three main ingredients should be sifted 
over and over again, and if flesh color is 
desired, a little carmine must be added, the 
sifting continuing. Then add the perfumes 
and sift again, so as to avoid any lumps. 

A formula for violet powder is given in the 
chapter on perfumes. 

WRINKLES. 

It doesn't matter whether or not you are 
afflicted with wrinkles, it's an excellent thing 
to give them some attention. Freckles are 
bothersome and provoking, and red noses 
make us as cross as black cats, but wrinkles ! — 
they are the worst of all, for with them comes 
the sickening realization that the freshness of 
one's complexion is beginning to fade, and that 
youth itself is slipping away. 



36 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

It is before the lines really appear that they 
should be considered, for then they're much 
more easily managed than when they — with 
their sisters and their cousins and their aunts, 
to say nothing of grandmas and babies — settle 
down for a nice long stay. Wrinkles are 
worse than bogie men, and " they '11 git ) T ou if 
yo' don't watch out!" 

Wrinkles are unnecessary evils — anyway, 
until one gets to be a hundred or so. That is, 
if you are so lucky as not to have troubles 
enough to keep you awake six nights out of 
seven, which seems to be the case with most 
people these days. Even then perhaps you 
can deceive yourself into believing that life 
is one big, lovely, roseate dream after all. 
Worry is a paragon of a wrinkle-maker. And, 
by the way, did you ever know why? 

It is not so much for the reason that screw- 
ing up the face traces lines and seams in the 
skin as it is because the fretting upsets the 
stomach. It has a most depressing effect on 
that hyper-sensitive organ. Haven't you often 
noticed what a finicky, doleful sort of an appe- 
tite you have whenever you are indulging in a 



THE COMPLEXION 37 

fit of the blues? The physiological explana- 
tion is the very close alliance of the great 
sympathetic nerves, which make up a little 
telegraph line more perfect and complete than 
any yet constructed by man. The poor, worn 
brain is fagged and tired. This fact is imme- 
diately communicated to the stomach, which, 
in true sisterly fashion, mopes and sulks out of 
sheer sympathy. 

Then, of course, with an unruly digestion, 
all sorts of complications begin. The eyes get 
dull, the face thin and sallow, the complexion 
bad, and the flesh flabby. At that stage the 
wrinkles, with their aforesaid relatives, sail in 
upon the scene. And there you are ! And — 
ten chances to one — it's a cheerful time you'll 
have getting rid of them. 

That's why I say you must take them in hand 
before they arrive, and dole out discourage- 
ment to them by correct living and the neces- 
sary facial massage. 

The skin of the face wrinkles exactly for the 
same reason and by the same mechanism that 
the skin of an apple wrinkles. The pulp of the 
fruit under the skin begins to shrink and con- 



38 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

tract as the juices dry up, and, quite naturally, 
the skin which was once taut and smooth, now 
being much too large for the contents, puckers 
up and lays itself in tiny folds. It's the same 
way with the skin of the face. When the sub- 
cutaneous fat of the cheeks and brow — which, 
when we are young and plump and rosy, is 
abundant — begins to be absorbed and to 
gradually disappear, then the cuticle straight- 
way starts in to shrivel and fall into minute 
lines. 

So it is wisdom to anticipate the coming of 
wrinkles and lay plans to ward them off. 
Live after strict rules of hygiene, as told in the 
chapters on Exercise, Baths, Sleep, Diet, and 
Dress. Have a tonic method of living. 
Invigorate your muscles and the skin of your 
body by sponge baths and brisk drying with a 
coarse bath towel. Friction is a great beauti- 
fier. Eat only that food which is going to do 
you some good, and take your exercise with 
regularity. Add to this a happy, hopeful dis- 
position of mind and a big fat jar of pure, 
properly-made skin food, then read the chapter 
on massage and follow the instructions given 



THE COMPLEXION 39 

therein. If any wrinkles or crow's feet come 
and lodge with you after that, then I'll take off 
my hat to their perseverance. 

RECIPES FOR THE COMPLEXION. 

In compounding face creams one cannot be 
too careful and painstaking. It is much like 
preparing a salad or a charlotte russe, either of 
which can be utterly ruined by lack of care — or 
too much fussing. The creme marquise is 
especially difficult for the woman who tumbles 
things together in a haphazard fashion. 
Unless compounded just so carefully, it will be 
likely to crumble, but when done according to 
directions it makes a cosmetic that is absolutely 
unrivaled. The other creams which follow this 
formula are more easily made for the reason 
that they contain less fats and are therefore less 
apt to separate from the rose-water. The 
creme marquise is a whiter, harder preparation 
than any of the others. 

Creme Marquise: 

}{ ounce of white wax. 

2^/2, ounces of spermaceti. 

2^/2 ounces of oil of sweet almonds. 



40 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 



1% ounces of rose-water, 
i drop attar of rose. 



Shave the wax and spermaceti, and melt in 
a porcelain kettle. Add the almond oil and 
heat slightly, but do not let boil. Remove 
from the stove and add the rose-water, to which 
the perfume has been added. Beat until 
creamy, and put in jars. Cease beating before 
the mass becomes really hard. Be sure that 
your druggist weighs the wax carefully, for too 
much of this ingredient will spoil the creme by 
making it too firm. This delightful prepara- 
tion should be applied immediately after wash- 
ing the face, but can be used at any time. It 
is absolutely harmless. Get the best materials 
— and see that your almond oil is the real thing 
instead of a cheap imitation, which acts almost 
as poison to the skin. 

Strawberry Cream : 
White wax, y& ounce. 
Spermaceti, y 2 ounce. 
Sweet almond oil, 2^ ounces. 
Strawberry juice, % of an ounce. 
Benzoin, 3 drops. 



THE COMPLEXION 41 

Take large fresh berries. Wash and drain 
thoroughly. Macerate and strain the juice 
through a piece of muslin. Heat the white 
wax, the spermaceti and the oil of almonds. 
Remove from the fire and add the strawberry 
juice very quickly. Beat briskly till fluffy, 
adding the three drops of benzoin just as the 
mixture begins to cool. Put in jars and keep 
in a very cool place. This quantity will fill a 
three-ounce jar. Apply every night as a cold 
cream. This is particularly excellent for sun- 
burn. 

Orange Flower Skin Food: 
Spermaceti, y 2 ounce. 
White wax, y 2 ounce. 
Sweet almond oil, 2 ounces. 
Lanoline, 1 ounce. 
Cocoanut oil, 1 ounce. 
Tincture benzoin, 3 drops. 
Orange flower water, 1 ounce. 

Melt the first five ingredients in a porcelain 
kettle. Take from the fire, and add the ben- 
zoin and the orange flower water, fluffing it 
with an egg-beater till cold. This recipe will 



42 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

make five ounces, quite enough to prepare at 
one time. For those who dislike oily creams it 
will be found delightful, as the skin absorbs it. 
The mission of the skin food is to do away with 
wrinkles. Massage must, of course, accom- 
pany its application. For hollow cheeks or 
dry, rough skin it is unexcelled. Its fattening 
qualities plumpen the tissues and so raise the 
lines of the face and gradually obliterate them. 

Clover Cream : 

Spermaceti, i ounce. 
White wax, i ounce. 
Oil sweet almonds, 5 ounces. 
Rose-water, if ounces. 
Powdered borax, 20 grains. 
Essence of clover, 5 drops. 

Dissolve the borax in the rose-water and add 
the essence of clover. Melt the white wax, the 
spermaceti and the oil of almonds, using a por- 
celain kettle, as tin or iron is injurious to the 
oils. When melted remove from the heat and 
add the rose-water (all at once). Then beat 
quickly with an egg-beater until the mixture is 
cold and firm. It is impossible for the rose- 



THE COMPLEXION 43 

water to separate from the oils if directions are 
carefully followed. The recipe given above 
will fill an eight-ounce jar, so perhaps one-half 
the quantity should be tried at first. 

Camphor Cold Cream : Take one-half ounce 
each of spermaceti and white wax, melt and 
add three and one-fourth ounces of oil of sweet 
almonds, then add one-fourth ounce of cam- 
phor, broken into small pieces, and stir until 
dissolved. Then pour in one and one-half 
ounces of distilled water in which fifteen grains 
of borax have been dissolved. Stir until well 
mixed and beginning to thicken, then add four 
drops oil of rose, one drop oil of rose geranium, 
one drop oil of ylang-ylang, two drops tincture 
of musk, and two drops tincture of civet. 
Continue to beat until cold. 

Cold Cream : 

White wax, y 2 ounce. 
Spermaceti, y 2 ounce. 
Orange flower water, 2 ounces. 
Almond oil, 4 ounces. 

Melt all together gently and pour into cups 



44 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

to cool. When cold pour off the water, remelt, 
and pour into jars to keep. 
Oatmeal Lotion: 

Two tablespoonfuls fine oatmeal. 

Boil and strain. When cold add 

One dessertspoonful of wine (white Rhine 
preferred), and the juice of one lemon. 

Fluff over the face before going to bed, not 
wiping it all away. This is excellent for sal- 
low complexion. 

Rose Toilet Vinegar: This toilet vinegar is 
made by taking one ounce of dried rose leaves, 
pouring over them half a pint of white wine 
vinegar, and letting stand for two weeks. 
Then strain, throwing rose leaves away, and 
add half a pint of rose-water. It can be 
used either pure or diluted, and is especially 
good for an oily skin. 
Lavender Lotion (to soften water) : 

4 ounces of alcohol. 

i ounce of ammonia. 

i dram oil of lavender. 

Add one teaspoonful to two quarts of water. 

A stringent Wash: Place in a half -pint bot- 



THE COMPLEXION 45 

tie one ounce of cucumber juice, half fill bottle 
with elderflower water, and add two table- 
spoonfuls of eau de cologne. Shake well and 
add very slowly one-half ounce simple tincture 
of benzoin, shaking the mixture now and then. 
Fill bottle with elderflower water. 

This is very whitening, but its best mission 
is that of making large, open pores less notice- 
able and disfiguring. 

Cucumber Milk : 

Oil of sweet almonds, 2 ounces. 
Fresh cucumber juice, 10 ounces. 
White castile soap, ^ ounce. 
Essence of cucumbers, 3 ounces. 
Tincture of benzoin, 38 drops. 

Get the juice by slicing the cucumbers, 
unpeeled, boiling in a little water and strain- 
ing carefully. The essence is made by mixing 
the juice with equal parts of alcohol. First 
dissolve the soap in the essence, add the juice, 
then the sweet almond oil very slowly, and 
finally the benzoin. Shake well for half an 
hour if possible. This is a most effective 
remedy for tan and sunburn. 






CARE OF THE HAIR 



Her luxuriant hair — it was like the sweep of a swift 
wing in visions. — Willis. 

Pretty hair can redeem a whole host of 

irregular features. With little waves and 

kinks, and clinging, cunning tendrils that lie 

close to the temples, a " crown of glory' ' will 

transform an ordinarily plain woman into one 

passably good to look upon. If you doubt 

this, just create a mental picture of yourself in 

the last stages of a shampoo! Isn't it awful? 

The damp, straight locks hanging in one's 

eyes, and the long, fluffy strands, that aren't 

fluffy at all but as unwavy as a shower bouquet 

of macaroni, and the tag ends and whisps 

sprouting out here and there like a box full of 

paint brushes six ways for Sundays — well, one 

is always mentally thankful at such times that 

one's "dearest and best" isn't anywhere around 

to behold the horrible sight. But after awhile 

the long, damp tresses are patted and fussed 

46 



CARE OF THE HAIR 47 

over until they are dry, and then they're 
combed out and curled up and kinked and 
twisted, and, oh, my countrymen, what a 
change is there ! The harsh lines of the mouth 
are softened, the ej^es look bright and pretty, 
the complexion comes out in all its sweetness 
like the glorious rainbow of a week ago. 

It makes all the difference in the world! 

But of course you will straightway exclaim : 
"That's all right to say about those lucky 
girls who have nice long tresses, but how about 
us poor mortals whose * crown' consists of 
eighteen hairs of eighteen different lengths, 
and all of them falling out as fast as they can?" 
To be sure, conditions do — once in a while — 
alter cases. But I claim, and always will claim 
— till the day comes when beauty matters won't 
matter at all — that every woman can have 
pretty hair if she will take the time and use 
the good, uncommon sense which seems 
necessary to acquire it. 

You know, and I know, and every other 
woman knows, that women treat their hair as 
they treat their watches — to unpardonable 
abuse. Of course, one's hair isn't dropped on 



48 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

the sidewalk or prodded with stickpins until 
the mainspring breaks, but it is subjected to 
even deeper and more trying insults. One 
night, when the little woman is in a real good, 
amiable mood, the tresses are carefully taken 
down, brushed, doctored with a nice "smelly" 
tonic, patted caressingly and gently plaited in 
nice little braids. The next night it is crimped 
until each individual hair has acute curvature 
of the spine ; then it is burned off in chunks 
and triangles and squares ; it is yanked out by 
the handfuls, it is wadded and twisted and 
tugged at and built up into an Eiffel tower, 
and — after a few hours of such torture — the 
little woman takes out the sixty odd hairpins, 
shakes it loose, gets every hair into a three-ply 
tangle of its own, and then hops into bed! 
When she gets up in the morning she pulls out 
and combs out more hair than she can make 
grow in after seven months' careful treat- 
ment. 

I tell you that is the one great trouble with 
women. They will not stick to one particular 
method. If they feel like fussing and coddling 
they will, but if they're tired or cross or in a 



CARE OF THE HAIR 49 

hurry to get to sleep, well, they just let their 
hair take care of itself. One's tresses need 
regular care just as do plants or babies or 
people. Make up your mind that you have hit 
upon the best way to treat your hair and then 
stick to it, no matter whether school keeps or 
not. 

To disentangle the hair use only a coarse 
comb, being sure that every tooth is smooth 
and firm, so that it will not tear or split the 
silky fibers. The fine comb is a thing of 
horror, and has no place upon the dressing- 
table. It irritates the scalp, bringing forth a 
prosperity year crop of dandruff and attendant 
unhappiness. Added to this, it splits the hair 
shafts and injures the roots. 

Brushing the hair is sadly overestimated. A 
dozen or two strong strokes each night will 
remove the day's dust and dirt, will promote 
circulation and sweep out flaky matter. The 
brushing must be done firmly but gently, and 
not with the violent methods of a carpet 
sweeping machine. Really, it is simply 
appalling the way some women dress their 
hair. A few tugs and yanks with a comb of 



So THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

uneven, unsmooth teeth, a scattering brushing 
back of scolding locks, some singes here and 
there with a red-hot curling iron, a twist, a 
roll, a pat and the application of a dozen hair- 
pins, and the hairdressing for the day is done. 

Instead, the comb should be used with 
gentleness, not dug into the scalp, as is the 
practice of some mistaken beskirted mortals. 
There is an old saying to this effect: "Wash 
the scalp, but not the hair ; comb the hair, but 
not the scalp," which saying, I leave to you, is 
good enough to paste in one's hat — or rather on 
the back of one's hair brush. 

After the brushing each night it is an excel- 
lent plan to part the hair into small strands and 
wipe off with a cloth slightly moistened. This 
is a sort of sponge bath which tones and invig- 
orates the growth. 

Combs should never be washed, but cleaned 
with a stout thread. Brushes, however, must 
have frequent washings in warm ammonia 
water, taking care to keep the backs dry. 
They should never be put in the sunlight when 
wet, but left to dry in an open window. 

Curling irons certainly do heaps of damage. 



CARE OF THE HAIR 51 

Any woman who has ever found herself sud- 
denly bereft of a nice fluffy bang, and in its 
place a stubby little burned-off fringe, will say 
that this is true, while those numerous hair- 
crimping girls who have known the humiliating 
and painful experience of having a hot curling 
iron do frolics down their backs can add start- 
ling testimony, and, what is more, show dis- 
figuring scars as proof. 

If the iron is used carefully and at proper 
heat, the hair is not injured. But certain it is 
that when the iron is smoking-hot it kills the 
life and lovely texture of the hair. Besides, 
how very ugly and unkempt those burned little 
ends look ! It was surely not of such that Pope 
wrote : 

Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare, 
And beauty draws us with a single hair. 

Soft papers in which the short locks are 
wound is a good method for the girl who 
singes her top-knot every time she tries to curl 
,a few little tendrils. Kid curlers are all right, 
providing the hair does not become entangled 
in the small ends, and so have to be torn when 
the hair is taken down. There is a certain 



52 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

secret in the hair-curling process which is too 
intangible for written description. The hair 
must not be wound tightly and the effect must 
be loose, fluffy and natural. 

The great necessity for keeping the hair per- 
fectly trimmed is to rid it of the split ends, for 
hair cannot be nice under such conditions. 
When the nourishment within each hair shaft 
does not extend the full length, then the hair 
cracks into several finer hairs, and one of 
these perhaps resumes the growth. That 
leaves a rough, bad shaft. The best way to 
keep the hair clipped properly is to twist it in 
rolls and to singe off all the little ends that 
stick out. 

It is almost impossible to state positively how 
often the hair should be shampooed. Oily hair 
needs a thorough washing every two weeks, 
while drier tresses should not be given a 
bath oftener than once a month. Half the 
reason for falling hair, or hair that seems never 
to grow, is caused by improper shampooing. 
The scalp must be kept scrupulously clean. 
And I doubt very much whether the soap and 
soiled water can be thoroughly rinsed out with- 



CARE OP THE HAIR 53 

out the use of running water, the bath spray 
being the most convenient means of getting 
this. How often, after washing one's hair, one 
finds a white, sticky substance clinging to the 
teeth of the comb ! This should never be, and 
the hair must be continually washed until it is 
fluffy and soft and absolutely without any sug- 
gestion of the shampoo. When the hair is very 
oily a dessertspoonful of ammonia and a pinch 
of borax should be added to two quarts of 
warm water. This will soften the water and 
make the soap more easily rinsed out of the 
hair. The liquid verbena soap makes a 
delightful shampoo. Recipe can be found at 
the end of this chapter. 

When shampooing, rub the lather through 
the strands gently, and with the finger tips 
remove all the little particles of dust and 
dandruff which may be clinging to the scalp. 
And may I gently suggest that you do not 
go at the task as if you were scrubbing a 
grease spot out of a rug? You must neither 
dig the scalp with your nails nor wring out 
your hair as you would a wash -rag. Trj' not to 
get your hair into a more mussed-up and 



54 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

tangled condition than is absolutely neces- 
sary. After using the bath spray liberally dry 
with warm towels, then — if possible — get some 
one to vigorously massage the scalp. This 
will almost invariably prevent one from taking 
cold. Never begin combing out your locks 
until they are nearly dry. A sun bath of 
twenty minutes is a good tonic. 

Occasionally an egg shampoo is more bene- 
ficial than the usual one of soap. This is espe- 
cially true when one has just recovered from a 
fever or when one's scalp is in an unhealthy 
condition or afflicted with dandruff. The 
rosemary formula is very effective. 

Dandruff is nearly always the result of 
neglect. If the scalp is washed as frequently 
as it should be, dandruff is not so likely to 
accumulate, although it is a perfectly natural 
formation. When the hair is excessively oily 
or the scalp unusually crowded with dandruff, 
the weekly shampoo should not be neglected. 

Blond hair should always be washed with 

.the yolk of an egg, as that will make it keep 

its golden tints. Mixing the egg with a pinch of 

borax and a pint of warm water is a good plan. 



CARE OF THE HAIR 55 

Hair dyeing is one of the mistakes of unwise 
femininity. All dyes containing either mer- 
cury or lead are very dangerous. But why 
should women dye their hair? Goodness only 
knows. One might as well ask why women fib 
about their age, or why women shop three 
hours just to buy a pair of dress shields. There 
are some questions of life which we are destined 
never to solve. There is nothing lovelier than 
white hair. Combine with it a fine complexion 
and a pair of animated brown eyes and you have 
as picturesque a beauty as ever awakened emo- 
tions in the heart of man. But, nevertheless, 
women moan and wail over every stray gray 
hair. They go off downtown and proceed to 
lug home a cartload of mysterious bottles which 
they keep religiously away from hubby's 
investigating eye. I won't tell the result of 
the experience, for it is too well known. It is 
a certain episode through which half the 
women of forty years have passed — sooner or 
later. When comes the desire to transform 
those little threads of silver into deeper shades 
remember the charming lines of Bancroft: 

"By common consent gray hairs are a crown 



56 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

of glory, the only object of respect that can 
never excite envy. ' ' 

Unknown washes, as well as dyes, do great 
mischief. Good health, wholesome food and 
proper care of the scalp are the three most 
important essentials toward beautiful and 
luxuriant hair. There are some simple lotions, 
harmless and easily prepared, which will assist 
the growth and nourish the roots. 

DRESSING THE HAIR. 

It has always been a double-turreted won- 
der to me why romancers are forever harping 
about heroines with "tresses in artistic dis- 
array. " All the tresses in such condition 
that I have ever gazed upon have looked most 
slovenly and ofttimes positively waggish. 
How any one can think that a girl with a 
tangled braid hanging down her back, a little 
wad over one ear, a ragged, jagged fringe 
edging its way into her eyes and half a dozen 
little wisps standing out here and there in hay- 
stack fashion — how one can even fancy that 
such a head as that is pretty is more than I can 
explain. Clothes may make the man, but 



CARE OF THE HAIR 57 

rational hairdressing goes a pretty long way 
toward making the woman. Observe my lady 
in curl-papers and my lady togged tip for a 
dinner party. Comment is unnecessary, for 
you have all seen her — or yourselves, which is 
quite the same thing. 

Those fortunate women to whom straight 
hair is becoming should never indulge in curls. 
There is nothing prettier than hair drawn 
loosely away from the face. It leaves dis- 
played those lovely lines on the temples about 
which artists and poets go mad. As to the 
style of dressing one's hair, that must be left 
solely to one's taste. If the lines of the head, 
the shape of the face and the hair itself are 
studied a bit the solution of the most becoming 
coiffure is very easily solved. 

A head that looks like a wax image in a hair- 
dresser's window is certainly anything but 
* pretty. Neither is it artistic, for the correctly 
crimped and waved side-locks are too 
mechanically planned to look at all natural. 
To nearly all women the plainer the mode of 
hairdressing the more becoming it is. That 
does not mean that you should comb your hair 



58 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

straight back and wad it into a funny little 
bump. Quite the contrary. Comb it back if 
you will, but have the coil loose and graceful. 
It is very bad for the hair either to be pulled 
back tightly or to be closely arranged. Venti- 
lation is necessary, and, by the way, caressing 
and smoothing the hair with the fingers is a 
good tonic for its growth and beauty. 

A few loose short curls about the face seem 
necessary to the good looks of the majority of 
women, but the heavy bang was shelved years 
ago. Wasn't it hideous? But perhaps you are 
too young to remember. Get out the family 
album, then, and see for yourself. 

There are certain rules for hairdressing that 
were just as good in Eve's hairpinless age as 
they will be a hundred years hence. By keep- 
ing these rules in mind you can make a picture 
or a cartoon of yourself, just as you wish. The 
one thing to remember is that the lines and 
proportions of the face must be carefully con- 
sidered and a mode of hairdressing adopted 
which will lessen and not exaggerate those 
lines and proportions. Be alert to your 
defects, and do not forget that what may be 



CARE OF THE HAIR 59 

essentially appropriate for one woman will be 
dismally inappropriate for another. 

Suppose a woman has a square, heavy jaw. 
She is just the one who flings defiance at pre- 
vailing fashions and clings to the dear old 
straight bangs deep over her eyes. The heavy 
chin makes a straight line, the hea\ r 5^ fringe 
makes another, and the result is that her face 
is as perfectly square as rules and measure- 
ments could make it. Let this deluded lady 
shake herself together and mend her ways. 
By making the top of her head appear wider 
the broad jaws will— according to all laws of 
reasoning — seem to be narrower. A few 
dainty puffs towering up prettily and a soft, 
fluffy fringe left flying out over the ears will 
not only add grace to the forehead but lighten 
the heaviness of the lower part of the face. A 
bow of ribbon or any other perky little head- 
dress will detract from the straight cross 
lines. 

Then there is the woman with the sharp 
chin, the woman of the wedge-shaped face. 
She invariably wears her hair over her ears 
and so elongates the V lines of her chin. By 



60 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

arranging the hair close to the sides of her 
head and putting it in a soft low coil on 
the top a much more pleasing effect can be 
got. 

The same rule for the heavy-chinned woman 
applies to the chubby, fat-faced feminine 
mortal. The "roly-poly* ' visage looks less 
44 roly-poly' ' when the front hair is drawn back 
and up in pompadour style and the long 
tresses piled into a nice little tower. The 
pompadour mode of hairdressing also holds 
good with the girl whose eyes are set too high. 
This helps along the old-time idea that the 
eyes of a woman should be in the middle of 
her head — that is, that they must be set mid- 
way between the bottom of the chin and the 
top of the hair. 

For the women with eyes set too low an 
exactly opposite arrangement should be 
adopted. Instead of drawing the hair away 
from the face, bring it down to it. Part the 
hair and let it come low on the temples and 
brow. 

I have never seen anything or anybody look 
much funnier than does a woman with a sharp- 



CARE OF THE HAIR 61 

pointed nose and a pysche knot. The nose 
bumps out in the front and the wad of hair 
sticks out in the back with a similarity that is 
positively convulsing to any one with half an 
eye for the humorous. It gives one an idiotic 
longing to take a measuring rule and find out 
the exact distance from "tip to tip." Another 
waggish picture is made by the snub-nosed girl 
with her hair arranged a la Madonna. These 
long hirsute lamberquins on either side of her 
face make the poor little nose appear even 
smaller, like unto a wee dab of putty or a 
diminutive biscuit. 

Don't caricature your facial defects. Don't 
get the lines of your head and face "out of 
drawing." Don't twist your hair up after 
every new fashion that chances to come along. 
Study the contour of your head from every side 
and then adopt that style of hairdressing which 
at once brings out the good points and conceals 
the bad ones. The most becoming coiffure is 
the one that gives the most artistic balance to 
the face. What will do for the fat, dumpy 
Miss Plump will make a human joke out of the 
lank, willowy Miss Slender. 



62 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

SUPERFLUOUS HAIR. 

If there is one blemish more than another 
that gnaws 'out our very heart supports and 
gives a good hard case of nervous chills, it is 
this. What woman can look at another so 
afflicted without a feeling of deep pity? There 
is something so masculine and altogether 
impossible in a bearded lady, even if she be 
merely a poor imitation of the real exhibited 
thing. 

Unless proper means are taken to abolish it, 
superfluous hair should be left religiously 
alone. The more it is pulled out or irritated 
the lustier and heartier will be the growth that 
follows. As for cutting it — well ! who does not 
know what the result is sure to be? A chal- 
lenging Kaiser William mustache, maybe, or 
perchance a Herr Most style of hirsute trim- 
mings. In applying creams of any sort to the 
face, it is wisdom to leave the upper lip 
untouched with the cosmetic, although one 
may feel perfectly safe in using home-made 
emollients which do not contain animal fats. 
Heat, rubbing and friction are all conducive to 






CARE OF THE HAIR 63 

the pests, and such oils and fats as vaseline, 
glycerin, olive oil and mutton tallow or suet 
should never be used. Depilatories likewise 
should be shunned. The powdered prepara- 
tions are usually composed either of sulphite of 
arsenic or caustic lime, and merely burn the 
hair off to the surface of the skin. It seems 
quite impossible for any such powder to kill or 
dissolve the hair roots without injury. The 
sticky plasters, made of galbanum or pitch, 
and which are known as "heroic" measures, 
are equally undesirable, since they are not 
permanent cures any more than the depilatory 
powders. The worst feature of these cures is 
that for every hair pulled out or burnt off a 
coarser one takes its place, and for every tiny, 
downy growth a fully developed hair appears. 
Of course, the plaster removes this soft lanu- 
ginous growth with the hardier one, and for 
that reason should be left severely alone. The 
tweezers are therefore less objectionable than 
the plaster, but this is such a painful way of 
getting happiness that I cannot advise it. 

There is no doubt but that electrolysis is the 
best cure. The only objection to this is that 



64 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

an incompetent operator will cause her patron 
considerable pain, and will also be likely to 
scar the skin. A dainty little woman who has 
been an expert in this work for years tells me 
that it is not at all necessary for the beauty 
patient to hold the little handles— -I know not 
the technical term — of the battery, although 
this causes a little more careful work on the 
part of the operator. At the same time, it 
makes the operation less painful, and really 
not at all hard to endure. The general desire 
to have the work done quickly causes the scars. 
If the hairs are picked out here and there and 
not close together the skin can heal and the 
rest of the horrors be destroyed at the next 
sitting. To remove a very prolific growth 
several " seances' ' will be necessary. But the 
result will be clear, unscarred skin, and no 
future chance of the wee worries coming back 
to bring heart-hurts and mental agony. 

To those who have any timidity at all about 
the electric needle, there is peroxide of hydro- 
gen and diluted ammonia. Use one as a lotion 
one night and the other the next. This will 
often prove a permanent cure, while a better, 



CARE OF THE HAIR 65 

less noticeable state is certain. The remedy is 
one, however, that will take time and patience. 
The superfluous hair will gradually become 
light-colored and almost white, and the 
ammonia will, if used persistently, deaden the 
growth. Do not expect the bleach to take 
effect right away, for it won't. If the skin is 
at all irritated rub on pure, thick cream. 

RECIPES FOR THE HAIR. 

Liquid Verbena Soap: Cut in small pieces 
one-half pound of pure imported castile soap. 
Put in porcelain kettle with two quarts of warm 
water and dissolve by boiling. When cold it 
should be of the consistency of rather thin 
cream ; if thicker, add more water. Stir in one- 
fourth pint of alcohol and let stand several days 
in a warm room. All the alkali and impurities 
will settle to the bottom of the bottle, leaving 
the liquid as clear as crystal. Pour off care- 
fully, leaving the residue for kitchen purposes. 
Perfume with a few drops of oil of verbena, or 
any scent one may prefer. A small quantity 
of this used in the shampoo is delightfully 
cleansing. 



66 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Shampoo for Dandruff: 

Yolk of one egg. 

One pint of warm water. 

One ounce spirits of rosemary. 

Follow with thorough washing with liquid 
verbena soap. 

Egg Shampoo : Shake the yolk of an egg in 
a pint of alcohol, strain and bottle. To a bowl 
of warm water add two tablespoonfuls of the 
liquid. 

Dandruff Cure and Hair Tonic: 

Forty-eight grains resorcin. 

One-fourth ounce glycerine. 

Alcohol sufficient to fill a two-ounce bottle. 

Apply every night to the scalp, rubbing it in 
well. This is good for falling hair. 

Lemon Hair Wash (for blond tresses) : 

One ounce salts of tartar. 

Juice of three lemons. 

One quart of water. 

Apply a cupful to the hair and scalp just 
before the shampoo. 



CARE OF THE HAIR 67 

Quinine Tonic for Oily Hair: 

One-half pint alcohol. 

One-half pint water. 

Thirty grains of quinine. 

Apply every other night, rubbing into the 
scalp. 

Hair-curling Fluid: Mix one and one-half 
drams of gum tragacanth with three ounces 
of proof spirits and seven ounces of water. 
Perfume with a drop or two of attar of rose. 
If too thick add a little rose-water. 



THE* HANDS 



"I take thy hand, this hand, 
As soft as dove's down, and as white as it; 
Or Ethiopia's tooth, or the fann'd snow, 
That's bolted by the northern blast twice o'er." 

— Shakespeare. 

Pretty hands — like sweet tempers and para- 
gons of husbands — are largely a matter of care 
and cultivation. Much more so, in fact, than 
most of us are aware. While tapering fingers 
and perfect palms count for considerable, the 
general beauty of the hand lies not in its cor- 
rect outline so much as in the whiteness and 
velvety softness of the skin and the perfectly 
trimmed, well-kept nails. I have seen hands 
as plump as rotund little butter rolls, with 
fingers like wee sausages, and I have also 
gazed upon long, slender hands as perfect of 
form and proportion as any hand ever put into 
a Gainsborough masterpiece. And both have 
been called beautiful. Of course, we all know 
that the Gainsborough model is perfection, but 

68 



THE HANDS 69 

nevertheless we can content ourselves with the 
knowledge that really ideal hands are as rare 
as a few other nice things in this world, and 
that we can straggle along very well with our 
good imitations providing we are able to keep 
a clean and well groomed. 

The poets have raved their wildest over the 
beauty of women's hands from the time when 
Adam had his first desire to write jingles — if 
he ever was so silly — to the present day of 
Kipling's entrancing verse. Shakespeare in 
his many t >s to the unfortunate young 

iet spoke of the "white wonder" of her 
hands, and there has probably never lived a 
versifier who has not, at one time or another, 
gone into paroxysms of poetry over ll lovely 
fingers," and "dainty palms," and all that. 
And I don't wonder, do you? for a w Oman's 
hand — when it is beautiful — is certainly a most 
adorable thing. It should be soft and yielding 
and caressing — with small, dainty joints, a 
satiny surface and carefully manicured nails of 
shell-pink tint. 

First of all, tight sleeves and very tight 
gloves must be condemned. Xext, relaxation 



70 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

and repose are to be cultivated. A beautiful 
hand that fidgets continually is not to be 
admired for anything beyond its ceaseless 
efforts to be doing. Ben Jonson once said: 
"A busy woman is a fearful nuisance," and it's 
more than likely that he had in mind some 
fussy dame whose nervous fingers were ever- 
lastingly picking at things and continually on 
the wiggle. 

The hand can easily be taught to move grace- 
fully. The ordinary Delsarte movements of 
swinging the wrist backward and forward, of 
raising the hands high above the head, and the 
general exercises for the cultivation of gesture 
and expression are all good and can bring 
about the habit of spontaneous relaxation and 
activity. No gestures at all, though, are better 
than awkward ones. 

Large joints are very unsightly. It is said 
of the Countess of Soissons that she never 
closed her hands for fear of hardening the 
joints. Funny, isn't it, to what extremes those 
old-time ladies went? And yet the Nordauites 
say we are degenerates ! 

Of Mme. Crequy it is recorded that "she was 



THE HANDS 71 

a woman most resolute," and in proof of that 
assertion the chronicler says that if no lackey- 
were within call she opened the doors herself 
— without fear of blistering her hands! It was 
the desire for dainty, delicate white hands that 
first gave nice little boys the task of trotting 
after stately dames and carrying my lady's 
prayerbook or fan. Fancy one of those porce- 
lain-like creatures of helplessness hanging onto 
the strap in a State Street cable car! Perish 
the thought! And what a jolly time Mme. 
Crequy would have had could she have indulged 
in a Christmas shopping scrimmage. After a 
few tussels with the swing doors that bar our 
entrance to the big stores, Mme. Crequy would 
have blistered her hands to the queen's taste 
and the poultice stage. There's no chance of 
a doubt about that. 

BATHING THE HANDS. 

With the hands, as with almost everything else 
in the strife toward beauty culture, cleanliness 
is the first great essential. You cannot keep 
your hands smooth and pretty without an occa- 
sional hard scrubbing. Unless the hands are 



12 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

unusually moist naturally, hot water should not 
be used. Have the bath tepid — just warm 
enough to be cleansing. Say a fond farewell 
to all highly-scented soaps and bring yourself 
down to a steady and constant faith in the pure 
white imported castile. I doubt very much if 
there is a soap manufactured which can equal 
this for its harmlessness and purity. The best 
way is to buy a large bar, letting it dry 
thoroughly, and cutting off small slices as they 
are needed. 

Never fail to let the soapy water out of the 
basin and fill again with a clear rinsing bath. 
When drying be sure that the towel is not 
coarse or rough, and that it absorbs every par- 
ticle of moisture. Very gently press back 
the cuticle around the nail. A little orange- 
wood stick or a piece of ivory will assist you 
when the skin is inclined to stick close to the 
nail. Let the hands have their most cleansing 
bath just before you go to bed, and then is the 
time to apply your cold cream or cosmetic 
jelly, which — in nearly all cases — is all that is 
needed to keep the hands soft and nice. 

Wearing gloves at night is very uncomfort- 



THE HANDS 73 

able and quite unnecessary. Lotions can be 
put on an hour or so before one goes to bed, 
and by that time they are usually pretty well 
absorbed into the cuticle. 

If the hands are red use lemon juice, apply- 
ing cold cream as soon as the juice is dry. For 
callous spots rub with pumice stone. 

CARE OF THE FINGER NAILS. 

There has been a great change in manicur- 
ing methods of late. The old steel implements 
of torture are banished, and the ivory instru- 
ments have long since taken their place. 
Steel should never be put to the fingers, except 
to use the scissors when the nails are too long, 
or to trim the skin in order to free it from 
hangnails. The best operators no longer cut 
away the cuticle about the base of the nail, and 
the manicure who does that nowadays is not a 
student of the French method of manicuring, 
which supplanted every other some time ago. 
The same effect — and better, in fact — is got by 
simply pressing back the flesh with the end of 
an ivory or orange-wood instrument. The 
gouging and snipping, so irritating to a person 



74 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

of nerves, is thus avoided. However, if you 
only know how, you can manicure your nails at 
home and they will look every bit as well as if 
you trotted downtown and spent half a day and 
a nice big dollar. 

Fill a china wash basin with a suds of warm 
water and castile soap. Soak the hands for 
five minutes. With an old soft linen towel 
push back the skin around the nails. If there 
are hangnails snip them away carefully. Cut- 
ting the cuticle at the base of the nail was a 
barbaric feature of a new science which disap- 
peared when it became more rational and 
refined. Never, under any circumstances, 
must the inside of the nail be scraped with a 
sharp instrument. Another thing to be 
avoided is the vulgar application of pink nail 
cosmetics. Who has not seen a pretty hand 
made hideous by nails all gummed up with red 
paste? Oh, yes, and claw-like nails! They, 
too, have been "called in," now that progress, 
good sense and civilization go marching on at 
a two-step pace. 

The nails should be trimmed the same shape 
as the finger tips, and left neither too long nor 



THE HANDS 75 

too short. There's a happy medium that is 
easily discovered, because of its usefulness, its 
convenience, and its artistic beauty. A too- 
highly polished surface is also a vulgarity 
invented by the old-time manicure. A little 
powder rubbed briskly on the nail with a 
heavily padded polisher is a great improve- 
ment, but when the nails shine with door-knob 
brilliancy it's high time to call a nalt. As for 
jagged, uneven nails — there's no excuse for 
them. 

RECIPES FOR THE HANDS. 

Cosmetic Jelly: Take thirty grains of gum 
tragacanth, soak in seven ounces of rose-water 
for two days, strain through muslin and add 
one-half ounce each of glycerin and alcohol, 
previously mixed. This dries in a moment 
after application. 

Glycerin Balsam: 

White wax, one-half ounce. 

Spermaceti, one ounce. 

Oil of sweet almonds, four and one-half 

ounces. 
Glycerin, one and one-half ounces. 
Oil of rose geranium, eight drops. 



76 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Melt the oils. Remove from fire and beat in 
the glycerin and perfume. Stir briskly until 
cold and white. 

Creme Duchesse: 

Benzoinated mutton tallow, three ounces. 

Oil of sweet almonds, one ounce. 

Glycerin, two drams. 

Rose-water, two drams. 

Oil rose geranium, twenty drops. 

Heat the tallow and oil of almonds in one 
vessel and the other three ingredients in 
another. Mix the two and stir until cold. On 
account of the mutton tallow, which might 
possibly cause a growth of superfluous hair, 
this cream is not desirable as a face cosmetic. 
The benzoinated mutton tallow can be made by 
taking one-half pound of the tallow and one- 
half ounce of the benzoin, and keeping at a 
high temperature until the alcohol has com- 
pletely evaporated. Strain through muslin. 

Almond Meal: 

Orris root in fine powder, four ounces. 
Wheat flour, four ounces. 



3ft 



THE HANDS 77 

White castile soap, powdered, one ounce. 
Powdered borax, one ounce. 
Oil of bitter almonds, ten drops. 
Oil of bergamot, one fluid dram. 
Tincture of musk, one-half fluid dram. 
Mix well and pass through a sieve. 

To make the hands soft : Take one quart of 
warm water, and in it soak one-half pound of 
oatmeal over night, then strain and add one 
tablespoonful of lemon juice and one teaspoon- 
ful each of olive oil, rose-water, cologne, 
glycerin and diluted ammonia. Rub into the 
skin three times a day. 

To plumpen the hands: One-fourth ounce 
tincture of benzoin, eight ounces of rose- 
water, and four ounces of refined linseed oil. 
Rub in mdrning and night. This is equally 
nice for the neck and arms. 

Wash: 

Rosewater, three ounces. 
Bay rum, 2 ounces. 
Glycerin, one-half ounce. 
Borax, one-half ounce. 



78 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Amandine : 

Blanched bitter almonds, three and one-half 

ounces. 
Powdered orris root, three-fourths ounce. 
Powdered white castile soap, three-fourths 

ounce. 
Glycerite of starch, one and three-fourths 

ounces. 
Clarified honey, one ounce. 
Oil of lavender flowers, one-half dram. 
Oil of bergamot, one -half dram. 
Oil of bitter almonds, four drops. 

Beat the blanched almonds with a small 
quantity of water to a smooth paste, add the 
other ingredients, and mix intimately. A solu- 
tion of cochineal will color it. 



THE EYES 

"Tell me, sweet eyes, from what divinest star did ye 
drink in your liquid melancholy?" — Bulwer Lytton. 

You would think, wouldn't yon, that women 
would be good to themselves? But they aren't. 
Not a bit of it! They abuse their complexions 
with cosmetics as deadly as Mrs. Youngwife's 
first plum pudding. They " touch up" their 
tresses with acids terrific enough to remove the 
spots of a leopard. They paddle around in the 
rain like ducks in petticoats and overshoes, and 
then sit down and chat with the woman next 
door for a whole hour, so that the damp skirts 
can more properly inaugurate a horrible cold 
that will settle down and stay for six weeks or 
more. And their eyes — but that's a story in 
itself. 

An oculist once said that every dot in a 
woman's veil was worth $5 to the gentlemen of 
his profession. The eye is being constantly 
strained to avoid these obstacles in its way, 

79 



80 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

and, of course, it is weakened and tortured. 
Think of a woman paying $1.50 for something 
that will, in time, destroy her eyesight just as 
sure as fate ! I leave it to you if she's not a 
ninny? But women do these things in spite of 
everything— except when the overworked eyes 
begin to pain, and then they're glad enough to 
do almost anything for quick relief. 

To keep one's eyes in good, healthy condi- 
tion, rigid laws must be laid down and carried 
out, though the heavens fall and the floods 
descend and everything gets up and floats out 
into Lake Michigan. You must not read in 
bed, and you must kiss good-by to that becom- 
ing black veil of many dots and spots. 

When you crawl out of bed in the morning 
do not dig your fists into your eyes and rub and 
rub until, when at last you do open those 
sleepy "windows of the soul," there is two of 
everything in the room, and big black spots 
are whizzing through the air. Pressure on the 
eyeball flattens the lens of the eye, and is sure 
to produce myopia, or shortsightedness. If the 
eyes are not inflamed at all they should be 
washed every morning in moderately cold 



THE EYES 8 1 

water. In case of inflammation an application 
of hot water and milk in equal parts will be 
found most beneficial. Dry with a piece of 
old, soft linen, being sure to wipe inward 
toward the nose so as not to issue invitations 
to those horrors of womankind — crow's feet! 
Great care should be taken to keep all foreign 
substances, especially soap and other irritants, 
from the delicate skin of the lids, and partic- 
ularly from the still more sensitive eyeballs. 

Gaslight brings direful havoc to good eyes, 
especially when the flame is in a mood to 
flicker and splutter, as gas sometimes does. 
Take a faint, wavering light and a piece of 
embroidery and you have as fine a recipe for 
premature blindness as can be unearthed in a 
month of Sundays. Sewing in the twilight is 
equally disastrous, as is the habit of facing the 
light when writing or reading. 

Few women realize the great need of resting 
the eyes occasionally, and the unhappy result 
of trying them to the utmost limit. The very 
moment that the eyeballs ache work should be 
suspended, no matter how necessary or urgent. 
Rose-water and plantain in equal parts makes a 



82 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

refreshing wash, and elderberry water is said 
to be good when there is a disagreeable 
itching. 

If the eyes are hot and watery use hot water 
which has been poured over rose leaves. 
Witch hazel, that good old stand-by, is always 
refreshing and is especially good when com- 
bined with camphor water. It is best when 
applied at night and allowed to dry on the lids. 
Weak tea, which is the eye tonic of our grand- 
mothers, is also splendid. 

A lotion that has been tried over and over 
again and found excellent for tired and inflamed 
eyes, is made by rubbing one teaspoonful of 
pulverized boracic acid in fifteen drops of 
spirits of camphor and pouring over this two- 
thirds of a cup of hot water. Stir and strain, 
and use as needed. 

To brighten the eyes, steep good green tea 
in rose-water, soak bits of absorbent cotton in 
the liquid, and bind on at night. 

For granulated lids — and what is more mad- 
dening and painful? — make an alum paste. 
This is done by rubbing a small piece of alum 
into the white of an egg until a curd is formed. 



THE EYES $3 

Apply to the lids upon retiring at night, tying 
a piece of soft linen over the eyes. 

So many girls say that they look a fright in 
eyeglasses, and ask if they should wear them. 
Most certainly if the eyes are worn out and 
failing. An oculist of the very best reputation 
should be consulted. The fee does not exceed 
that of the quack, and the eyes are tested with 
greater thoroughness. Glasses must be chosen 
with the utmost care, as ill-fitting lenses can 
make a great deal of trouble. They are worse 
than no glasses at all. Then, after eyeglasses 
are put on, they must be changed now and 
then to suit the changing conditions of the 
sight. If the eyes are not in a bad state, wear- 
ing spectacles for a few months may strengthen 
them so that the glasses can be discarded. 
Also, if the oculist knows his business as he 
should, he can give you much valuable infor- 
mation concerning the care of your eyes. 

THE GIRL WHO CRIES. 

Now, about the girl who weeps. You don't 
see many of her these days. Women used to 
think that big, sad eyes, just ready to send 



84 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

forth a November gale of tears, was quite the 
proper thing, especially if there chanced to be 
a man about. Women of experience — and 
who should really know — say that tears are 
worn-out weapons for bringing masculinity to 
time. We later-day mortals go in for every- 
thing that bespeaks strength and backbone and 
a certain amount of strong-mindedness When 
little wifey wife begins to snivel nowadays, 
Mr. Husband doesn't upset the furniture in his 
efforts to kiss away the tears. He is quite 
likely to straighten up and say: "Oh, brace 
up, Pauline !" or else, "Go look in the glass, 
my love, and see what a beautifully tinted nose 
you have!" 

Yes, these are unromantic days, and there's 
no mistaking that fact! There's little room 
for the weepy, wailing woman whose big, 
inflated ambition is to dampen stunning neck- 
ties and deluge nicely laundered shirt-fronts. 
Of course, women must have their good, com- 
fortable cries once in a while, but if they're 
wise they will retire to their own rooms and 
have it out by themselves. This is not quite 
so satisfactory as the old-time methods, for the 



THE EYES 85 

reason that loneliness does not inspire an exhi- 
bition of woe, and if one doesn't look out one is 
apt to forget what one is boo-hooing about. 
But, take it all in all, it's safer and more in 
keeping with fin de siecle rules and regula- 
tions. 

It used to be that a man would say: "Well, 
it breaks me all up to see a woman cry. I 
just can't stand it!" But now it's different. 
Instead, he remarks wearily: "Anything but a 
yowling woman ! ' ' 

The poets have written lots of lovely things 
about tears. Notwithstanding that fact, there 
is an old German proverb: "Nothing dries 
sooner than a tear," which isn't so bad. And 
Byron, you know, said that the busy have no 
time for tears. Which, one must acknowl- 
edge, is quite true when one thinks how every- 
body is up and hustling these days. They're 
either wearing themselves down to skin and 
bone trying to earn a living and to reside in a 
$60 flat with electric lights and a real back 
yard, or else they're gradually killing them- 
selves in an effort to enjoy life and to have a 
good, jolly time all around. However, that's 



86 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

neither here nor there. So let's jog along to 
more timely topics. 

THE EYELASHES. 

Who hasn't bumped into the woman who is 
woefully wandering around minus her eye- 
lashes? My dear girls, you make the mistake 
of your life when you begin to snip and clip 
and tinker with those pretty little curtains that 
fall over your eyes. If eyelashes are cut in 
infancy they will grow longer, but when one 
gets big enough to wear long skirts and to do 
one's hair up high and wear a little bonnet with 
jet dofunnies on it, there's not much of a show 
for eyelashes being made longer by trimming. 
Touching the lashes with castor oil will 
increase the growth, and moistened salt is also 
good. 

THE EYEBROWS. 

The eyebrows must be kept well brushed, 
and by persistent care can be pinched into 
graceful lines. A heavy eyebrow can be 
trained with really little effort. The brush 
should be small and rather stiff and firm. It 
will at once cleanse and invigorate. 



THE EYES 87 

I cannot approve of penciled eyebrows. A 
professional in the '* make-up" art can touch 
the eyebrows here and there and bring a mar- 
velous change. But for the ordinary amateur 
it is better left undone. Besides, if coloring is 
applied, it is only a short time before the hair 
will fall out. And then won't you look pretty? 

Eyebrows that meet over the nose are really 
very disfiguring, and the cure is so simple that 
there is no need of this blemish, providing, of 
course, that one can afford to take the neces- 
sary treatment. The electric needle is the only 
sure and certain cure, and two sittings will be 
sufficient to remove them for good and always. 
Be sure that you patronize only the best oper- 
ator, as you will surely regret it if you don't. 

Sage tea, with a few drops of alcohol added, 
will darken the eyebrows without injury. 
Cocoanut oil makes an excellent tonic to 
increase the growth. 



THE TEETH 



"Some ask'd how pearls did grow, and where? 
Then spoke I to my girl, 
To part her lips, and shew me there 
The quarrelets of pearl. ' ' — Herrick. 

Femininity may be heir to many beauty 
woes, but ugly teeth is one trouble which is 
often caused by sheer neglect How many of 
us can recall the days of childhood and girlhood 
without remembering the fibs we told to escape 
cleaning our teeth? The blessed mothers 
implored and begged and threatened and 
fussed, but we went our way joyful and serene, 
making all due preparations for future unhappi- 
ness. But when the girl began to think more 
about her personal appearance, and less of the 
frivolities of advanced babyhood — oh, that we 
were all back at that jolly time of life ! — things 
were very different. The neglected teeth got 
good attention then, but often the mischief 
had already been done. I trust that the 
younger readers of this volume on beauty will 

88 



THE TEETH 89 

remember that this is hopelessly true, and 
something not to be forgotten — like yesterday's 
toasted marshmallows or to-day's lesson in 
political economy. 

I have heard it said that too much brushing 
will injure the teeth, but don't you believe it! 
The sooner you become accustomed to a moder- 
ately stiff brush, that will do its work well and 
thoroughly, the better. All foreign matter must 
be constantly removed, else decay will come as 
sure as fate. A perfect state of cleanliness 
cannot be unless the teeth have proper and 
constant attention. By this I do not mean 
that you must cease all other occupations and 
take up that of eternal scrubbing. Simply 
keep j^our teeth clean. Toothpicks must not 
be used excessively, cold water should not be 
applied — or very hot, either, for that matter — 
and all powders containing gritty substances 
must be tabooed. It is quite unnecessary for 
me to add that you must not bite thread or 
break nuts with your teeth, for all of us have 
had this bit of information dinned into our ears 
since the time when "little children should be 
seen and not heard' * made life a worry and a 



90 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

care. I must confess, however, that I have 
seen women tin tie knots and do various bits 
of very remarkable mechanical work in this 
unique manner. My experience has been so 
broad in this particular line of observation that 
the expression "biting ten-penny nails" has 
never appeared to me to be much overdrawn. 
If one seriously desires fine, beautiful, white 
teeth — and who doesn't? — one must treat them 
well. Just before going to bed, give them a 
thorough cleaning, using waxed dental floss to 
remove any large particles which may be 
between them. Use only a pure powder, the 
ingredients of which you know. Be sure that 
all powder is well rinsed away. See that your 
brush is kept scrupulously clean. Upon arising 
in the morning rinse the mouth with diluted 
listerine. This makes an excellent wash, espe- 
cially when the gums are tender and liable to 
bleed. Brush the teeth with tepid water. 
After breakfast, luncheon and dinner, wash 
them again, letting the last cleansing be the 
most searching and thorough. Once in a while 
it is wisdom to squeeze a little lemon juice 
onto the brush. This will remove the yellow 



THE TEETH 9* 

appearance that often comes, and will also 
keep your teeth free from tartar. 

Every six months visit your dentist and 
have your teeth thoroughly examined. The 
smallest cavities should be filled at once, and 
the pain will be less than when these agonizing 
crevices get so large that you feel that it's a 
flip-up between going to a dentist or jumping 
into the lake. I know that most of us women 
are cowards when it comes to seances in dentist 
chairs, but all such things — like house-cleaning 
and writing letters to folks you don't like, and 
entertaining your husband's maiden aunt — all 
these things are heaps nicer when they're well 
over with. They are the events which we prefer 
should ornament the past instead of the future. 

To Sweeten the Breath : 
Alcohol, twelve ounces. 
Cinnamon, two and one-half drams. 
Ginger, one-half dram. 
Essence of peppermint, one dram. 
Cloves, one-eighth dram. 

Mix and leave in infusion for two weeks in a 
tightly covered vessel; filter and bottle. Put 



92 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

one teaspoonful in a glass of water, and rinse 
the mouth with this every morning. 

Recipe for violet tooth powder appears in the 
chapter on perfumes. 



BATHING 

"Even from the body's purity, the mind 
Receives a secret sympathetic aid." 

— Thomson. 

The road to beauty has never been better 
known than it was to the Greek and Roman 
women of centuries ago, yet they did not begin 
to have the resources in cosmetic arts that we 
have now. But they bathed incessantly, 
believing that cleanliness and health were the 
vital points in their endeavors to be lovely. 
They went it for athletic games to a large 
degree, and thereby hangs the secret of well- 
developed figures and fine, stately carriage. 
Creamy lotions for the face, made mostly of 
almond oil and the oil of cocoanut, were their 
complexion solaces. 

No doubt these beauties of the past centuries 
had more time than we for their baths and 
games, but nevertheless let us make a strong, 
stern effort to follow in the wake of their excel- 
lent teachings. Surely they proved the wis- 
dom of them in their own incomparable beauty. 

93 



94 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Speaking of baths reminds me of Mme. 
Tallien, the beautiful French woman, who 
lived in the time of the first Napoleon. She 
went in for baths galore. Let me tell you 
what she did. 

She gathered together all the strawberries 
or raspberries that the corner grocery could 
supply. These were mashed to a pulp and the 
bathtub filled. In this Mme. Tallien bathed 
until the idea of milk and perfumed baths 
appeared to her fancy. There were many 
absurd and useless fads those days as well as 
wise beautifying practices — just the same state 
of affairs as now confronts us. 

How much more rational than Mme. Tallien's 
notions were the methods of Diana of Poitiers, 
who, history tells us, was fresh and lovely at 
sixty-five ! She left the berries and things to 
their rightful place, the breakfast table, and 
each morning took a refreshing bath in a 
big tub of clear rain-water. There has noth- 
ing yet been found, even in this progressive 
age of electric elixirs and beautifying com- 
pounds, that can equal this old-time aid to love- 
liness. 



BATHING 95 

With the delightfully convenient bath-rooms, 
that even the most ordinary apartment or flat 
has now, bathing is not a matter of trouble and 
bother, but is, instead, an invigorating pleas- 
ure. I believe firmly in the need of the daily 
bath. Not the thorough scrubbing, mind you, 
but the quick sponging and the plunge. Let 
the thorough scrubbing be at least twice dur- 
ing the week, and the five-minute plunges on 
other days. Certain it is that one is much 
refreshed by the dipping luxury, and still more 
certain is the fact that in no other way can the 
flesh be kept healthy and firm. To those who 
are robust enough to stand it, the cold bath is 
very good, but I would not advise it as a gen- 
eral thing for women. For actual cleans- 
ing warm water and pure soap are neces- 
sary. The shock of cold water immediately 
closes the pores, and they then retain all the 
impurities that they should cast out. The 
temperature of the water for the daily tepid 
bath should be about seventy-five or eighty 
degrees, never more than that. 

Whether or not the bath should be taken at 
night or in the morning is a question which 



96 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

each must decide for herself. While it has 
often been claimed that a bath at night will 
quiet the nerves and make one sleep sweetly, 
I have known many persons who found it an 
utter impossibility, as it caused them to be rest- 
less and wide-awake. One reason why the 
bath before going to bed is desirable is that a 
soothing emollient can be applied to the face, 
neck and hands, and thus will the skin be 
whitened and beautified. After a warm plunge 
the pores of the skin are opened and in excel- 
lent condition to absorb a good skin food or a 
pleasant cream. 

Bath bags are simply luxuries. They are 
pleasant ones, to be sure, but they should 
never take the place of the flesh brush. It is 
best to follow the scrubbing with a gentle 
washing with a bath bag, for the almond meal 
and the orris root will give a charming, velvety 
appearance to the skin. They should never be 
used a second time, as the bran frequently be- 
comes sour after a drying. So, if you are of an 
economical turn of mind, you will make youi 
bath bags very small, just large enough to 
serve for one beauty bath. 






BATHING 97 

A little starch thrown into the bath will 
sometimes whiten the skin. Salt is not 
cleansing at all, but is very invigorating and a 
pleasant tonic if one is worn out and languid. 
Turkish baths are splendid complexion-makers, 
but must not be indulged in too frequently. If 
the skin is dry and feverish, a dry bath — or 
massage — with oil of sweet almonds will pro- 
mote a healthy skin and bring about good 
circulation. 

Constant bathing is the best remedy for 
excessive perspiration. But this is not really 
effective unless a little benzoin is added to the 
water, and the armpits well dried, and dusted 
with powder afterward. A good bathing 
powder for this purpose is made of two and 
one-half drams of camphor, four ounces of 
orris root and sixteen ounces of starch. 
Reduce to a fine powder and tie in coarse 
muslin bags. 

Remember that a coarse complexion, with 
black, disfiguring, open pores, can be almost 
entirely cured by keeping the pores of the 
body free from sebaceous matter. Have the 
bathtub carefully scoured each day, as the oils 



98 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

and dust washed from the body invariably col- 
lect on the sides just where the water reached. 
For the thorough cleansing have the tub half 
filled with warm water. Use a coarse rag, a 
bath brush and large, coarse towels. Before 
stepping into the water wash the face and neck 
well with castile soap and a camel' s-hair 
brush, this being particularly necessary when 
the pores are clogged and acne has formed. 
Rinse thoroughly and dry with gentle pats. 
When using the brush, do not forget to let the 
scrubbing go well down onto the chest, lest 
your neck will be bleached white and nice only 
part of the way. 

Once in the tub, go over the body briskly 
with the flesh brush, using plenty of good soap 
and not being at all sparing of elbow grease. 
This scrubbing is very invigorating, for it exer- 
cises the muscles and stirs up one's blood as 
well. After the scrubbing use the bath spray, 
letting the water get gradually chilled. The 
drying should be brisk and quick, and a warm 
robe of some sort must be donned while the 
hair is being combed for the night, the teeth 
brushed and the face anointed with a pure 



BATHING 99 

home-made cosmetic. Then go to bed. If 
you don't find a prettier, fresher complexion 
with you next morning, then I'll miss my 
guess, and will take up another occupation 
than that of doling out beauty advice. 

Quireda Bath Bags: 
One pound of fine oatmeal. 
One-half quart of new clean bran. 
Two-fifths pound powdered orris root 
Two-fifths pound almond meal. 
One-fourth pound white castile soap, dried 

and powdered. 
One ounce primrose sachet powder. 

Dipped in tepid water and used as a sponge 
these bath bags make a velvety lather that 
softens and whitens the skin in a way that 
warms the cockles of one's heart. 



DIET 

"Good food is the basis of good conduct, and conse- 
quently of happiness ; more divorces are caused by hash 
than by infidelity." — Hetty Green. 

The object of eating is nourishment to build 
up the nerves, the muscles, the blood, the 
tissues, and, in fact, the whole body. Judging 
by woman's mad devotion to things she should 
not eat, this is a piece of information which 
has never before been confided to her. 

Let the food be well cooked, daintily served 
and delicately flavored — for all that aids diges- 
tion with persons of sensibility and refinement 
— but see to it that the ingredients are whole- 
some and of the best and freshest qualities. A 
fifteen-cent lunch at one of the tearooms, 
where dishes are prepared with some idea of 
the rules of hygiene, is much better than a 
twenty-five-cent course dinner at a cheap 
restaurant. This is a hint for the business 

girl who lunches downtown. 

xoo 



DIET ioi 

Ripe fruits, served upon green leaves, are 
always appetizing, even if there is nothing 
more than toast or rolls to go with them. 
Cereals, such as rice, barley or hominy (they 
must be steamed for hours), served with rich 
cream, make ideal luncheons. A baked apple, 
a bit of rice pudding, or a custard — they, too, 
are worth the while and the price. Eggs, 
either boiled or carefully scrambled, or made 
into an omelet, flavored with a dash of parsley, 
and chops or fish delicately broiled, are sub- 
stantial viands. Soups or broths, breads, fruits 
and an occasional salad make desirable lunch- 
eons. A noonday meal of creamed potatoes 
and green peas is not to be despised, and it's a 
godsend to the poor stomach that has been 
heroically tussling with cocoanut pudding, fruit 
cake and chocolate rich enough to own a castle 
in Europe. Such dishes as Italian spaghetti, 
with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, or 
celery or cress salad, with no other dressing 
than the best olive oil and a teaspoonful of 
vinegar, -will do very well. 

There is no economy in buying badly cooked 
luncheons. Seek quality, not quantity, and, so 



102 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 



far as health and good looks go, you'll find 
yourself getting along famously. 

Rich foods, especially pastries, can bring 
forth an array of facial eruptions that is posi- 
tively maddening to the poor victim. Ice 
cream soda, too, deranges the stomach and 
creates all sorts of disagreeable disturbances. 
Hot bread and rolls, indulged in to an appalling 
extent in southern households, can do more 
real damage to a good, fair skin than all the 
winds and wintry blasts that ever shook chim- 
neys or swept friskily around corners and alley- 
ways. 

Overeating not only brings indigestion and 
creepy dreams, but invariably makes the com- 
plexion coarse, high-colored and overruddy. 
That does not mean that one should nibble at 
things and not demolish a "good square meal." 
Eating should be understood— rules laid down 
and religiously carried out. 

Usually hygienic dishes and health foods 
comprise a complete list of one's special hor- 
rors. Most girls who have tried them say so. 
But just the same, there are dozens — yes, hun- 
dreds — of nutritious viands that are decidedly 



DIET 103 

more palatable and appetizing than the sweets 
and indigestible doughy nothings that not only 
make of you a physical wreck but set you to 
wishing most heartily that the man who 
invented mirrors had died of the measles in 
his earl}^ infancy. 

Rice is a good old stand-by as a builder-tip of 
a run-down constitution. But you don't like 
it? Well, then, stew it with chicken sometime 
and you will soon discover what great possibili- 
ties are in this despised grain. Oatmeal, as it 
is usually cooked, is a thing of horror, to be 
shunned and avoided and run away from. But 
oatmeal left to slowly simmer for a full hour, 
and served half liquid, fluffed over with a bit of 
powdered sugar and covered with rich cream, 
is fit for a queen — most especially if the royal 
lady is ambitious for a fair visage with sweet, 
soft skin and cheeks just touched with the 
crimson of health. 

A thick porterhouse steak, broiled quickly 
and well seasoned with salt, pepper and butter, 
or rare little chops of lamb, are always excel- 
lent tonics, as well as complexion tinters. 

Very often a lack of beauty is nothing more 



104 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

than a lack of proper nourishment. The best 
cure in the world for a haggard, wan, white 
face is a proper understanding of good foods. 
Sometimes a tonic of iron is needed to brace 
the wearied physical state. Cod liver oil, 
which is so very disagreeable to most people, is 
the sure cure for the girl whose extreme slen- 
derness causes her to lie awake nights to fret 
and worry. But when the oil is prepared with 
malt it is even better, and also less trying to 
swallow. A combination of malt and hypo- 
phosphates is excellent too, and will bring back 
the fire of energy to the eye, and the roses to 
the cheeks. A dessertspoonful taken before 
meals will stimulate and strengthen, and get 
the tired body into a better state to resist the 
wear and tear of ill health or overwork. 

One beautiful woman of my acquaintance 
declares that the secret of her radiant looks is 
simply lettuce and olive oil. She eats lettuce 
summer and winter, and this queer complexion 
cure has certainly worked like a charm in her 
case. She buys the crisp young head lettuce, 
being careful to use only the inner leaves. 
Over this she pours two tablespoonfuls of the 



DIET 105 

best olive oil and the very slightest dash of 
vinegar. Salt and the least wee bit of sugar 
finish the salad. The good qualities of lettuce 
are usually destroyed by rich, mustardy dress- 
ings, that breed acute dyspepsia and desperate 
despair over good looks. But olive oil and let- 
tuce is as good a combination for rugged health 
and a fair face as one can find in a year's search 
from Cape Horn to the Yukon. Others besides 
the lovely lady of whom I speak have found it 
so. The secret, -though, is, I fancy, in the olive 
oil, which is an excellent aperient. 

A complexion-destroying habit is that of eat- 
ing late lunches just before going to bed. An 
apple or an orange is a benefit — as is also 
plenty of cold, distilled water — but when it 
comes to gnawing chicken bones, devouring big 
slabs of rich cake or finishing up a dish of left- 
over salad, then is the time that kind relatives 
or guardians should step in, say a word and 
take a hand. The girl should be saved from 
herself at almost any expense. 

Fruit is a panacea for many complexion ills. 
What a pity, then, that blind womankind per- 
sists in dabbing things on her nose instead of 



106 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

putting healthful, purifying beauty food into 
her stomach. 

There is no reason in the world why fruit 
should be considered a luxury. It should be 
used as a staple article of diet. Surely that 
must have been the original intention. But 
alas, how many housewives will pay forty cents 
for a can of lobster that will upset stomachs, 
frazzle pleasant tempers, cause all sorts of com- 
plexion horrors and bring a perfect comet trail 
of nightmares and dyspepsia ! And these same 
women will wrap themselves in a sanctimonious 
mantle of economy when the woman next door 
pays the same sum for a dozen great juicy 
oranges. 

Grapes and apples are among the most 
nutritious fruits, and there is nothing in the 
world so good for a skin of oily surface or 
yellow hue as a grape diet. Besides, grapes 
are extremely appetizing, are very easily 
digested and are sure to agree with even the 
most delicate stomach. Ripe peaches have 
nearly all the merits of the grape, and, if in 
proper condition, are also quite unlikely to 
bring about indigestion or stomach disorders. 



DIET 107 

There has never yet been concocted a better 
spring- tonic than strawberries. The reason 
why they are particularly excellent to enrich 
and purify the blood is because they contain 
a larger percentage of iron than any other 
fruit. It is a shame ever to embarrass and 
humiliate the luscious things by imprisoning 
them in the indigestible layers of a shortcake. 
A fluff of pure powdered sugar and a dash of 
whipped cream and you have a toothsome dish 
fit for the most finicky god that ever graced 
Olympia's pleasant realms. 

The woman who has a dingy, muddy skin 
must pin her faith to oranges, lemons and 
limes. These are simply unrivaled as com- 
plexion clearers. The juice of the grape fruit 
is fine, too. Fruits of this class stimulate and 
make active the digestive organs, which, as 
you probably know, are the main seat of 
nearly all complexion ills. A breakfast of 
oranges and strawberries will do more toward 
making you a pretty, wholesome, healthy 
woman than almost anything else. 

To be perfectly wholesome, fruit with firm 
flesh, like plums or apples or cherries, must be 



108 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

thoroughly masticated. The skin of raw fruit 
should under no circumstances be eaten. It 
is covered invariably with multitudes of min- 
ute germs which always swarm upon the sur- 
face of the fruit and multiply rapidly under 
favorable conditions of warmth. Before eating 
grapes or cherries all dust and impurities must 
be removed by careful washing in several 
waters. 

But to sum up the entire question of diet, eat 
what you know will agree with you, and choose 
the blood-making, nourishing foods. Let fruit 
and vegetables predominate in your meals, but 
do not avoid meats entirely. Cake is not 
harmful unless very rich, but greasy pastries — 
like pies and tarts and things of that sort — are 
simply utterly, hopelessly impossible! Fats 
make the skin oily and coarse, pastries produce 
pimples and blackheads faster than you can 
doctor them away, and too much sweets will 
have about the same effect. Instead of buying 
candies, save your money and acquire a fine 
complexion along with a bank account. It will 
pay in the end. 



SLEEP. 

"What a delightful thing rest is ! The bed has become 
a place of luxury to me. I would not exchange it for all 
the thrones in the world." — Napoleon I. 

If womankind half realized the beauty bene- 
fits of plenty of restful, refreshing sleep, all 
femininity would be crawling into bed at sun- 
set. I've often wondered why the great sister- 
hood that is praying and working and fretting 
for physical loveliness does not understand that 
more real help comes from rational, hygienic 
living than can be squeezed out of all the cos- 
metic jars that ever enticed weak feminine 
hearts. 

Beauty sleep! Why, we've heard of it since 
the long-ago days when our blessed mothers 
sung it, lullaby-fashion, into our ears! As 
little girls it brightened the " sand-man" hour 
and made us go contentedly to bed. As 
women it should rightly continue its good 
work, and the dear Lord knows we need it 
more now than we did then, for — perhaps — the 

109 



no THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

crow's feet have begun to show their ugly little 
tracks and the fine complexion of early girlhood 
is losing its luster and brightness, and is grow- 
ing a bit dull and yellowed — like a leaf first 
touched with the autumn chill. 

Perhaps you won't believe it, but there are 
right ways of sleeping and wrong ways as 
well. The girl who curls up like a shrimp is 
the one who will be writing to me in a great 
flurry and worry, telling me that her shoulders 
are round, and that she simply can't make them 
nice and square as they should be for the new 
tailor-made that is to transform her into a 
happy little Easter girl! The woman who is 
horrified to find wrinkles appearing like wee 
birds of omen does not have to tell me that she 
is a pillow fiend and sleeps with her head 
half a foot higher than her heels. It stands to 
reason that a pillow will push the flesh of the 
face up into little lines. There is no necessity 
for pillows at all, and girls don't need them for 
comfort any more than a little puppy dog 
needs patent leathers or overshoes. The bed 
should be hard and perfectly flat, with springs 
that do not sag or give and let the poor sleeper 



SLEEP in 

roll down in the middle in a jumbled-up heap. 
A hair mattress is the best for health and com- 
fort, but others will do nicely if they are only 
perfectly flat and not too soft. 

The first thing to do, then, is to dispense 
with the pillow. If this change cannot be 
accomplished all at once, then let your pillow 
be gradually made smaller and smaller until 
none at all is desired. Your sleep will be much 
better, and after the habit is once formed a pil- 
low is looked upon with derision. I know fool- 
ish mothers who put their children to sleep on 
pillows as big as a school-girl's love for cara- 
mels, and the poor babies tumble and toss, and 
the next morning those mothers dose them for 
a pain in the "tum-tum. M Alack-a-day! 
Babies don't need pillows — unless it be those 
little soft cushions of down that are as flat as 
pancakes. 

But to return from babies to beauty. If your 
sleep is restless and you awaken with a dull 
headache and the feeling of weariness that 
makes you want to begin the night over again 
so as to get refreshed, you may be sure that 
something is wrong— either you are worried or 



H2 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

troubled or are working too hard for your own 
good. Perhaps your digestion is out of 
order, or the room is not properly ventilated. 
It may be any of these things that keep you 
from getting the rest that is really so very 
necessary for health and comfort and good 
looks. 

Heavy bedding is also distressing, and as 
good a maker of nightmares as deviled crabs 
or plum pudding. Light blankets make the 
best covering. Let the window be open at top 
and bottom, so as to have perfect ventilation. 
Don't eat an indigestible lunch before retiring; 
this is the greatest of all beauty follies. Lie 
on the abdomen, with your hands at your sides. 
This position will keep your shoulders back, 
will give you a good figure and a better car- 
riage. When you have followed these direc- 
tions and still find that you spend most of the 
night crawling around over your bed vainly 
seeking a comfortable and restful spot, then 
you can make up your mind that you need a 
good tonic and a doctor's counsel, for your 
nerves or your digestive organs are not as they 
should be. 



SLEEP 113 

To sum it all up in a nutshell: You must 
sleep well, and you must sleep a great deal if 
you wish to be the "woman beautiful. " Sit- 
ting up late at night will cause grey hair as will 
nothing else. It makes those dark circles 
about the eyes, and causes the "windows of the 
soul, ' ' to lose half their luster and softness and 
beauty. Who ever saw a pretty woman with 
dull, lifeless eyes? She wouldn't be pretty 
were she so afflicted. By sleeping properly, 
the body is kept stronger and fresher, and thus 
the complexion is benefited greatly. Wrinkles 
do not come so soon, the skin does not take on 
that muddy, yellow hue as it would otherwise, 
and cheeks are pink and rosy with that great- 
est of all rouges — Health. 

There's a heap of truth in all this. If you 
do not believe it, then give up late hours — be 
they for study or pleasure — and see if the prob- 
lem won't work itself out nicely with you. I 
think it will. In fact, I am really quite sure 
of it. 



EXERCISE 

"Better to hunt in fields for health unbought 
Then fee the doctor for a nauseous draught. 
The wise for cure on exercise depend ; 
God never made His work for man to mend. " 

— Dry den. 

It would have done your heart good to see 
her. 

She came into the room with the briskness of 
a March flurry of snow. Her cheeks were 
poppy-red, her eyes sparkled with the mere joy 
of living. And she chuckled happily as she 
tucked back the curly scolding locks that were 
flying about, all helter-skelter, like feathers 
unloosed or fluffy chicks blowing away from the 
mother wing. 

"Isn't it jolly?" she chirped, as she threw her 
muff on the 'floor and made a dive for Peter 
Jackson. Peter Jackson is a cat, as black as 
the ace of spades and as pugilistic a feline as 
ever walked a fence. 

"Isn't what jolly?' ' I queried. "The weather 
"4 



EXERCISE n5 

or your sprightly self? Do you know, you'd 
make a splendid poster now for some new- 
fangled cork-soled walking shoe? Or perhaps 
a bearskin ulster for Klondike wear. I'm sure 
a feather boa concern would pay a fortune for 
your picture. I would I were an artist man, 
with a little brush and a little pencil and a little 
palette with nice little paint puddles on it " 

''What-in-the-world? Here I start in to 
dilate upon the joys of exercise and off you go, 
just like a musical top with your buzz-buzz- 
buzz, and your incomprehensible talk about 
little painters and little palette^ and little paint 
puddles. I'm sure it's n nice of you." 

Peter Jackson was shoved to the floor. 

i4 But walking is jolly!" she piped, "and I've 
just had the very gloriousest tramp and I feel as 
fine as a — what is it they say? Oh, as fine as a 
violin — I — I mean fiddle. I walked miles and 
miles — perhaps not quite so far — and the wind 
was blowing a blue streak right in my face. 
Ugh! fi?st it made me shiver and creep up into 
my collar. But bimeby I got nice and warmy, 
and my cheeks tingled. I felt as if I could 
walk from here to the place where the sun goes 



n6 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

down. Do you know, I never before realized 
how much fun it was to take a good tramp. 
I've half a mind to reform from my role of 
lazy-bones and walk every day, whether it 
snows, blows, cyclones, or turns warm, and 
fells us all with sunstrokes and heat prostra- 
tions.' ' 

"Health is the vital principle of bliss, and 
exercise of health," said I, quoting Thomson. 

"Oh, well," and my pretty, rosy-cheeked 
guest arose. "I must be going. You know 
how it is when one gets to preaching physical 
culture and spouting poetry. Ta-ta!" and 
away she went, like the fleeting memory of 
last night's dream. 

If women paid as much attention to exercise 
as do men there would not be so many wrin- 
kles and stooped shoulders among the feminine 
sex, and old age wouldn't rap on the door 
ahead of time. The girl who goes in for out- 
door sport, who isn't afraid of walking a block 
or two, who loves the cold air and who revels 
in wheeling and swimming and skating, is the 
one who won't be an old woman in appearance 



EXERCISE II? 

while she is still young in years. Keep the 
muscles firm and healthy by exercise. This 
will not only improve your carriage and add to 
your general development, but will aid the 
digestive organs in their work and keep you 
animated and cheery. Who of us does not 
know the inspiration of a walk in the open air 
after a few days spent in the close atmosphere 
of the house? Fresh air is the elixir of life. 
We can't have too much of it, and — oh, my 
girls — think of the exceeding cheapness of it ! 
It can be got for the asking, which is more 
than one can say for the various beauty pomades 
and lotions that beckon us toward poverty. 

Walking and skating are the best exercises 
during the winter, but all kinds of exercises are 
acceptable, providing they are gone about in 
the proper manner. It is easy enough to see 
why thorough and regular exercise is abso- 
lutely necessary to health. 

We all know — at least, we all should know — 
that the general size of the human body 
depends on muscular development. The same 
bony frame which makes a slim-jim girl that 
tips the scales at seventy-five pounds can be 



n8 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

padded with good solid flesh until it boasts of a 
triple chin, fingers like wee roly-poly pud- 
dings, and a full 200 pounds in weight. The 
framework of the body counts little toward 
size. 

The muscles are like the various bits of 
machinery which go to make up a steam 
engine. In performing their work they pro- 
duce heat and motion. The fuel which sup- 
plies this force is taken into the body as food, 
prepared for use in the intestinal tract, and 
from there carried by the blood to be stored up 
in the muscles and various tissues as latent 
force. Through the circulation of the blood 
the whole body is heated by muscular exercise. 
It stands to reason that continual exercise of a 
certain kind will develop certain muscles. For 
instance, there's the arm of the blacksmith or 
the firmly developed legs of the danseuse. 
The same muscle that grows when used within 
certain limits will waste away when deprived 
of proper exercise. 

In physical culture the object is the sym- 
metrical development of all the muscles, not 
one at the expense of the other. So, for that 



EXERCISE 119 

reason, don't pin your faith to dumb-bells and 
Indian clubs and neglect more necessary exer- 
cise. If you do you will in time find yourself 
possessed of big Sandow arms that will make 
the rest of you look as spindle- like as a last 
year's golden-rod stalk. 

Walking is as good a form of exercise as any- 
thing yet discovered. But walking as most 
girls and women walk won't do you one bit of 
good. You might just as well spend your time 
trying to count 700 backward or while away 
the hours talking 1880 fashions with the 
woman next door, for all the health or happi- 
ness or physical development that you will get 
out of it. 

Corsets and bands and belts must be done 
away with. You must have full, free use of 
your lungs. Then, don't wear heavy petti- 
caots that will retard the free movements of 
your legs and make your hips ache with their 
tiresome weight. Dress warmly but as lightly 
as possible. 

Above everything else don't stick your 
fingertips into a muff and waddle along like a 
little duck in sealskin and purple velvet trim- 



120 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

mings. Your arms must swing easily at your 
sides. Thus equipped walking should not be a 
task, but a great, big, lovely joy, no matter if 
the frost does nip your nice little nose and make 
your cheeks feel as if they had been starched, 
dried, ironed and hung on the line to air. 

English women who come to America can 
tell us a thing or two about long walks. Only 
the other day a pretty Englishwoman with 
a complexion like apple blossoms casually 
divulged the information that a walk of ten or 
fifteen miles was an old, old story to her. So, 
when I say that three miles a day — the three 
miles ought really to be covered inside an hour 
— is not a bit too much to give one's muscles 
the necessary exercise, I hope you won't lean 
back in your chair and gracefully expire. 
Some of you will gasp, no doubt, for a walk of 
five blocks to a suburban station is usually 
looked upon as a heroic martyrdom to circum- 
stances and environments. 

Alas, for woman's fickleness! And alas, for 
her 'playful habit of going to extremes ! Sup- 
pose, for instance, that Dolly Jones says she is 
going to take a nice long walk every day of her 



EXERCISE 121 

life ; that she knows the bountiful blessings and 
benefits of a brisk tramp, and that she will 
take that tramp in spite of obstacles as big as 
the Auditorium or as immense as her longing 
for a cherry-colored silk petticoat. 

The first day — and, mind you, she has not 
walked a mile for weeks, the lazy girl — she 
covers five miles in an hour and ten minutes. 

And when she comes home she's such a 
wreck that the whole family is up in arms in a 
jiffy, and whisk out the tomahawks ready for 
war. That's the end of Polly Jones' pedestrian 
exercises. 

And Daisy Brown. She does quite the same 
thing, only not so violently. The first day she 
walks four miles, the next two, and then comes 
a trip around the corner to get arnica and 
liniments for her poor, aching bones. Thus also 
terminates Daisy's stern resolution to take daily 
constitutionals. 

But the wise woman. Daisy's and Polly's 
methods are not hers. Far from it! When 
she begins to walk for health and beauty she 
dons loose, comfortable clothes, and with 
swinging arms and head well back, strides 



122 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

along briskly and easily. Her first day's walk 
is scarcely a mile. The second tramp is 
longer ; and gradually the distance is increased 
until the three miles are covered in about fifty 
minutes. 

The wise woman does not take her exercise 
in the afternoon, but in the morning, an hour 
or so after breakfast, when the day is young 
and everything seems bright and hopeful and 
cheery. Then it is that the babies are out in 
their go-carts and carriages, and the "chillens" 
are trooping to school. It's heaps pleasanter 
than an afternoon walk when one has more of 
the worries and events of the day on one's 
mind. 

It is the regularity of exercise — and living, 
in fact — that brings the best results. A stated 
time for baths, meals, rests and walks is the 
proper plan for those fortunate ones who are 
not rushed into a condition of decrepit antiquity 
trying to do fourteen different tasks in thirteen 
small, limited minutes. Some of us, the very 
busy ones, cannot have the necessary rests dur- 
ing the day, but baths and exercise can usually 
be arranged and carried out. They should be, 



EXERCISE 123 

for they are of more vital import than most of 
us realize. 

Running is splendid exercise, but we city 
folk have few opportunities for exhilarating 
fun of that sort. A woman sprinting for a 
cable car might quite as well be a trained bear 
in a pink mosquito netting petticoat for the sen- 
sation and giggles she creates. With a bonnet 
perched over one ear or dangling dizzily from 
an escaping empire knot she is neither a dig- 
nified nor an inspiring picture. 

So it's quite as well all around to run in one's 
own room. In fact, the best way to run is to 
run in one small spot and not go ahead. That 
sounds befuddled, but it is easily explained. 
Get into loose clothes, throw open the window, 
place your hands on your hips and go through 
the movements of running. It is best to be in 
stocking feet or light slippers, else that odious 
woman in the flat below may knock on the 
steam pipe as a signal for peace and quiet. 

After fifteen minutes of mock running take 
an invigorating, tepid sponge bath with just a 
dash of benzoin in the water. After that 
comes vigorous friction with a rough towel. 



124 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Then take a nap if you can spare the time. Of 
course one must guard against exposure to cold 
after one is heated by the exertion of exercise. 

Dancing would be one of the best of exercises 
were it not for the close, ill-ventilated rooms, 
the tight clothes, the exposed shoulders and the 
nervous strain which is always on hand at large 
social affairs. 

As for skating, there is nothing better. It 
makes a woman feel like a new man. I say 
that quite consciously, as, in my opinion, to 
feel like a new woman — that poor, long-ridi- 
culed creature — would be more humiliating 
than joyful. Don't you think so? 

Horseback riding is questionable exercise. 
The side saddle is apt to increase the tendency 
to curvature of the spine, while tight corsets 
prevents the good that w T ould come to the heart 
and lungs and digestive organs. Swimming is 
good, particularly for nervous, high-strung per- 
sons. And the wheel? Well, that -best of all 
exercises — for it is the best when indulged in 
by the wise woman, not the crooked-back, 
scorching, silly — is a story in itself. 



STOOPED SHOULDERS 



"Her grace of motion and of look, the smooth 
And swimming majesty of step and tread, 
The symmetry of form and feature, set 
The soul afloat, even like delicious airs 
Of flute or harp. " — Milman. 

Stooped shoulders is one beauty ill that is 
wholly unnecessary. Any girl with real brains 
and a little energy and will power can make 
herself straight and bestow upon herself a good 
carriage. It is entirely a matter of doing and 
persevering. Most of us know remedies for 
our small failings, but how many of us apply 
them persistently until a cure is brought about? 
Few indeed, and more's the pity. 

When starting the reform always bear in 
mind that the chest must be held upward and 
outward. When this is done it is not necessary 
to keep the shoulders back in a forced, strained 
position, and so make little crowfeet in the 
back of your gown. The benefits of holding 
the chest thus are more than one — or two, 

125 



126 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

either, for that matter If practiced con- 
tinually it will strengthen the lungs. It will 
also develop the chest and neck as no masseure 
of miracle-working fingers can ever hope to. 
Breathing exercises are also excellent. 

Incorrect positions during sleep cause many 
stooped shoulders. The big fat pillow of our 
grandmother's day is the worst kind of a 
horror. No pillow at all is best, and after one 
becomes accustomed to sleeping that way it 
will be found much more restful and altogether 
comfortable. The best position for sleep is to 
lie face downward, with the arms straight at 
the sides. Of course, I am fully aware that 
most women sleep curled up like kittens, but 
they can change their ways if they will but 
try. 

The woman with straight, good shoulders 
never carries her arms heaped full of bundles, 
for that draws them forward and makes them 
droop as dismally as an ostrich plume in a bliz- 
zard. Instead, the * 'budgets' ' are carried with 
the arms down at the sides. Neither does she 
clutch the back of her skirt in that bantamlike 
fashion practiced by the woman of less judg- 



STOOPED SHOULDERS 127 

ment. The back breadths of her new tailor- 
made are grasped about six inches from the 
belt, and held up just so that they clear the 
ground. Hats worn deep over the eyes are 
not desirable, this wise woman also knows, for 
however tightly they are pinned to one's back 
hair, they are mighty likely to keep one's body 
at an uncomfortable slant. 

The plump woman who wears her hose sup- 
porters pinned to the front of her corsets sel- 
dom knows that the constant pulling of the 
elastics has a tendency to make her shoulders 
droop. Shoes of high heels and narrow toes 
are equally bad, for the wearer is plunged for- 
ward in an ungraceful and line-destroying 
attitude. The low-heeled, square-toed shoe — 
that is now in vogue — is the thing to wear, and 
blessed be the Lord for at last bringing woman- 
kind to a rational understanding of what she 
should wear on her much-abused little feet! 

The tailor-made gown is serviceable as a 
promoter of good figures, for usually, unless 
one keeps one's shoulders back, the front of the 
bodice proceeds to lay wrinkles in itself and so 
spoil the good effect that women love as they 



128 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

do their pet jelly dishes and their Dresden 
teacups. 

Other things to be remembered are : Always 
stand on the front or ball of the foot and keep 
the knees straight. Carry yourself so that a 
string extended downward from your chest 
would reach the floor without touching another 
part of the body. Do not push your head for- 
ward and do not be in a hurry so that you will 
waddle along like a little duckling with abso- 
lutely no grace or carriage. Dress comfort- 
ably, have your clothing well fastened, and 
your gown loose enough to give your lungs 
opportunity for the full expansion that, for the 
sake of your health, they should have. Make 
sofa cushions of your pillows and sleep always 
face downward, flat on the mattress. Last, 
but not least, don't be a woeful lady and amble 
along in a disconsolate, sloppy- weather fashion 
that is so utterly hopeless that I could never 
set before me the awful task of suggesting a 
remedy. One of the secrets of happiness and 
success is cheerfulness. Men and women and 
even babies like cheerful folk, while they will 
race their overshoes off trying to get away from 



STOOPED SHOULDERS 129 

the unhappy ones of dismal tales and many 
worries. Be cheerful, even though the laun- 
dress has washed your best handkerchief into a 
real-lace sieve, or the rains and snows of 
December have descended upon your best Sun- 
day bonnet and made a pocket edition of a rag- 
bag thereof, or even if the gas range has blown 
itself and all the kitchen windows into the next 
block. Be cheerful at all hazards! It pays! 
Really it does ! 



BREATHING 



"Thfc common ingredients of health and long life are, 
Great temp' ranee, open air, 
Easy labor, little care. ' ' 

— Sir Philip Sidney. 

Among the first lessons that the beauty stu- 
dent must learn is how to breathe properly. I 
know, my girls, that that sounds awfully 
stupid, but there are yards and acres of truth 
in it nevertheless, and the subject is well worth 
your while — you can depend upon that. 
Haven't you ever noticed that most of the 
women who have gone in for vocal culture have 
round, pretty waists? Almost invariably the 
singer is a woman of fine figure, well-poised 
head, firmly-set shoulders and easy carriage. 
And the reason is simple. She has learned 
from the beginning that she must breathe 
properly, that every breath must come from 
the abdomen and not from the chest, and that 
to breathe in that way she must hold up her 
chin and expand her lungs. 

130 



BREATHING 131 

We often mistake carriage for fine figure. It 
is the woman who poises her head well and 
who keeps her shoulders back that attracts the 
eye of other women. There is something brisk 
and energetic and active about her that makes 
of her a sight good to look upon; while 
another woman with perhaps a much better 
figure will trail about with adown-in-the-mouth 
air and a slow, doleful gait that will give one 
the blues and an absence of appetite for weeks 
to come. 

You cannot possibly breathe properly and 
have your shoulders stooped — at least you can- 
not make such a combination without a mighty 
big lot of discomfort. If you breathe as you 
should you will develop the chest and bust, 
give better lines to the shoulders and — unless 
you are naturally inclined to be plump and 
rotund — will make your waist become round 
and slender and pretty. If you doubt this, try 
for yourself and see. 

I wish that I could impress my readers 
with the fact that improper breathing brings 
many ills. Breathing is a highly impor- 
tant function, and bad breathing not only 



132 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

produces symptoms of consumption, but makes 
the waist unduly large. The reason for this is 
that holding the chest up will keep all the in- 
ternal organs in their proper places, and so not 
allow them to spread the waist in the unsightly 
way that usually denotes deficient vitality in- 
stead of the " Greek health' ' upon which 
physicians are wont to dilate. Good breathing 
strengthens muscles and makes the flesh firm. 
The reward is a perfect, round, slender figure 
and a trim waist. 

Begin your breathing lessons in the morning 
just after getting out of bed, when you will 
have no tight skirts or bands to hinder the full 
expansion of the lungs. Raise every window 
and get all of God's blessed air that you can, 
and, above all things, let not this practice 
cease when the winds of winter blow as if from 
Greenland's icy mountains. The breathing 
exercise is all the better then. Place your 
hands on your hips and walk slowly across the 
room, your chest held upward and outward, 
and every breath coming deeply from the 
abdomen. After three trips you will find 
yourself pretty well tired out. Rest for a few 



BREATHING 133 

moments and try again. The next morning 
make the exercises longer, and as soon as the 
mtiscles that hold your chest tip become firm 
and strong there will be little exhaustion. 
Vary the exercise by standing still, taking as 
long a breath as possible and holding it for 
several seconds. This practice, indulged in 
for five or ten minutes every day, is most 
beneficial. But the main motive in all breath- 
ing exercises is to get into the habit of stand- 
ing straight with the shoulders held back and 
the chest up. "Play" that you are trying to 
make your chest creep up and touch your chin. 
One of the greatest injuries that come from 
wearing tightly laced corsets is the compression 
of the ribs. The unyielding steel and buckram 
will not permit a variation in the waist measure 
as a deep breath is inhaled or expelled. The 
proper and healthful corset is the one that 
expands or contracts with each respiration of 
its wearer, and that is why I am such an 
enthusiastic devotee of the corset waist with 
the elastic bands on either side. It matters 
not one bit how tight the clothing may be, so 
long as it is given elasticity and is yielding. 



134 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

This is absolutely necessary to perfect health 
and the proper development of a woman's 
figure. 

With the breathing capacity increased, 
enlargement of the lungs and development of 
the chest are sure to be the results. But, be it 
understood, please, that this growth is not the 
work of a day or a week, or a month even. 
However, if it is continued religiously there 
will be a difference of five or six, or even 
seven, inches in your chest measure in the 
course of a year, to say nothing of the improve- 
ment in carriage and figure, and the health and 
strength that correct breathing will give. 

There are a number of things to remember. 
The first is that one must secure breath control, 
the next that the best authorities condemn 
thoracic or upper chest breathing. Keep the 
chest up and out, and let the expansion be at 
the waist line. Inhale slowly and smoothly as 
much air as you can, swelling out the lower 
chest at the sides just below the arm pits as the 
air is drawn in. Hold this air five seconds. 
Then exhale it slowly and gradually, crushing 
in the ribs gently with the hands as the air 



BREATHING I3S 

goes out. During the exhalation be sure to 
keep the upper chest still. Do not let it sink, 
as it will be apt to if not restrained by an 
effort of the will. Exhale again and hold the 
breath for ten seconds, then for fifteen seconds, 
and finally for twenty seconds. This exercise 
will do for the first day. Increase the power 
of holding the breath by practicing regularly 
each day. 

Be careful not to make any motion suddenly. 
In calisthenics of any kind the more slowly and 
carefully the exercise is performed the greater 
will be the benefit. But best of all, keep in 
mind that these breathing exercises are not 
only making you a pretty woman of pretty 
figure, but giving you that greatest of all 
beauty elixirs — health. 



MASSAGE 



"The love of beauty is one of the most firmly im- 
planted qualities of the human mind, and only those who 
are mentally deficient fail to appreciate it. From the 
human standpoint there is no edifice so beautiful as that 
earthly temple which enshrines the soul/ ' 

— Dr. Cyrus Edson, 

Massage is as old as the hills. Most really 
good things are, I've found. The Grecian and 
Roman women preserved their wondrous, 
wholesome beauty by reveling in luxuriant 
baths and then undergoing vigorous massage 
by their stout-armed slaves. Massage is a nat- 
ural alleviator and comfort-giver. The first 
thing a baby does when he bumps his precious 
head is to rub the injured spot with his little 
fist. Relief seems to come with friction. If 
one's temples hurt, the hands seem to itch and 
tingle to get to rubbing and smoothing out the 
aches there. And the reason for it is that 
friction makes active the nerves and blood 
vessels and exercises the tired or fretting 
muscles. Massage is exercise. If we were to 

136 



MASSAGE 137 

cease using our arms the muscles would shrink 
and soon become incapable of movement. The 
skin outside would, of course, be affected by 
the general warpings of the tissues, and the 
result would be everything that is dreadful to 
the mind feminine — crow's feet, wrinkles, 
sallowness and lack of the tints and colors of 
health. You who have enjoyed the pleasures 
of a Turkish bath must know how new and 
robust and fresh you feel after the invigorating 
cleansing and pummeling by a strong and 
experienced masseuse. 

We all know about the system of decay and 
renewing which the skin constantly undergoes. 
It is much the same way with the muscles. 
The very tiny cells of which the muscles are 
composed are continually being repaired. As 
the wornout particles are rejected the new fiber 
is created. Does it not stand to reason that 
massage will facilitate this process, make the 
flesh firmer, restore vigor to the muscles and 
give new life to the entire system? 

The muscles of the face, more than those of 
any other part of the body, are lazy and tor- 
pid. As the troubles of life descend, the wear 



138 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

and tear of bothersome existence begins to 
show. The circulation becomes defective, and 
this brings flabby tissues and a wrinkled, sal- 
low skin. Then, oh, woe! woe! One feels 
as if one might just as well be dead and gone 
as to be trailing through life so afflicted. 

Massage means 4 ' I knead. ' ' While the pro- 
fessional masseuse should be well informed 
concerning the muscles of the face and neck, 
the location of the veins and arteries, and the 
general formation of the skin, the little home 
body who wishes to rub away a few wrinkles or 
turkey tracks can easily dispense with the 
acquiring of so much knowledge. With know- 
ing what "not to do," she will get along very 
well, although it has always been my opinion 
that the simplest and most satisfactory way to 
learn to massage one's own cheeks and brow is 
to go to a first-class professional for one or two 
treatments. If you keep your eyes open you 
will easily learn the simplest and most effective 
movements. 

The first thing to remember is that massage 
will both create and reduce flesh, according to 
the treatment given and the time devoted to 



MASSAGE 139 

it. Severe rubbing and rolling of the flesh 
between the fingers will gradually dissolve the 
fatty tissues. . The flesh will then become soft 
and flabby, and the skin will be likely to fall 
into tiny lines unless an astringent wash, like 
weak alum water (used hot), is applied to 
tighten and harden it slightly, and so make the 
flesh firm. If the massage is continued, the 
flabby flesh will also be reduced, especially 
when the astringent wash is applied to help the 
hardening process. When the face is to be 
plumpened or wrinkles removed, then rub the 
skin very gently with a rotary motion, which 
is not a mere rubbing but a kneading as well, 
and follow with light tapping movements. 
Never roll the flesh between the fingers unless 
reduction is the object. Also, never massage 
oftener than once every twenty-four hours, and 
then only for fifteen or twenty minutes. 

So much for the don'ts. Before beginning 
the massage have the face perfectly clean. 
Wash with tepid water and pure castile soap. 
Otherwise the dust and powder are kneaded 
into the pores and the result is frequently 
extremely irritating. 



140 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

The reasons for massage are many. It facili- 
tates and stimulates the skin in its continual 
effort to throw off the tiny flakes of dried, dead 
cuticle. It is exercise for the muscles, and at 
the same time it inspires a livelier circulation 
of the blood. It is easy to understand then 
why massage is so beneficial for the face, and 
why it makes a rosy, healthy complexion. 
Massage alone will remedy many a complexion 
ill, for when the muscles are sluggish and tor- 
pid, the tissues weak and flabby, the circulation 
as slow as the messenger boys in the funny 
papers, and the skin sallow and wrinkled, all in 
the world that is needed is a little gentle pat- 
ting and coddling and rubbing into a less life- 
less state. 

Great care must be taken lest the skin become 
bruised and irritated. For this reason a cream 
or skin food is used. Let me suggest that this 
emollient be of the good, pure, home-made 
kind, not the cheap cosmetic which has mutton 
tallow or lard as a principal foundation. The 
orange flower skin food (formula appears in the 
chapter on the complexion) is the best formula 
for this purpose, as it will, by absorption, fatten 



MASSAGE 141 

and build xxp the impoverished tissues, and at 
the same time strengthen, whiten and soften 
the skin. Mineral oils must never be used. 
Glycerin not only makes the complexion darker 
and rather yellow, but it dries the secretions of 
the skin very rapidly, and a dry, harsh surface 
is the sure result. Vaseline — as we should 
know from its reputation as a hair tonic — will 
not prove a happiness to one. 

The skin food should be rubbed in all over 
the face and far down upon the neck with a 
firm, circular movement. When the cream is 
partially absorbed begin the manipulations, 
starting at the forehead. Place the thumbs on 
the temples and in that way hold the skin firm 
and taut. With the tips of the first and second 
fingers of both hands rub the lines transversely. 
If there be wrinkles across the forehead, rub 
up and down, holding the skin tight at the top 
of the forehead with the first fingers and 
manipulating with the second and third. 

Another movement which is excellent for 
wrinkles is to place the first finger of each 
hand crosswise of the wrinkles about half an 
inch apart. Then push up a little fold. As 



142 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

the left hand finger pushes its way along the 
wrinkle, let the right hand one rub up and down, 
always keeping the line up into a little hill. 

In massaging the lines about the eyes the 
movement should begin by rubbing the eyelid 
from the nose outward half an inch beyond the 
end of the eye, then returning below the eye 
toward the nose. This will make the massage 
sweep back crosswise of the crow's feet. 
Another movement is to hold the skin taut and 
then knead the lines firmly with the first and 
second fingers of the right hand. 

If the chin is fleshy and you wish to massage 
it down to smaller proportions, you must dis- 
solve the fatty tissues by picking up the flesh 
between the thumb and forefinger and rolling 
and rubbing as much as you possibly can with- 
out injuring or breaking the skin. Then, in 
order to keep the flesh from getting flabby the 
rotund little chin must be bathed in cold 
water, in which is a small pinch of alum, a 
piece the size of a bean being plenty for a pint 
of water. This alum bath, remember, is only 
to be applied when you are reducing the car- 
bon or fat. 



MASSAGE 143 

The * 'kneading" movement is very bene- 
ficial. This is done very gently with the 
thumb and forefinger only — precisely the 
motion used in kneading bread. The smooth- 
ing manipulation for the wrinkles is probably 
better explained as an " ironing out" motion. 
All lines can stand these two movements. 
Whenever the skin seems particularly dull of 
color and generally lifeless, then the patting 
comes in excellent play. This is merely a 
gentle tattoo over the entire face. Electricity 
is an excellent accessory to massage — but that 
is another story. 

After the massage, wet a wash cloth in water 
slightly chilled, and lay over the face. This will 
close the pores nicely. Dry and apply powder. 

I trust that my beauty students will easily 
understand the foregoing— it is certainly a 
difficult topic to explain lucidly. As I said 
before, it is a wise plan to go to some one who 
thoroughly understands the art and let her 
teach you. While massage can be given at 
home, it is more satisfactory if done by a pro- 
fessional whose knowledge of anatomv will 
assist her toward the best results. 



DRESS 

' Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet; 
In short, my deary, kiss me! and be quiet." 

— Lady W, Montague. 

The world has its full share of silly women — < 
more's the pity — but there is not one who can 
hold a candle to the girl who trots about in the 
cold, bleak days of winter clad in summery 
undergarments fit only for the warm atmos- 
phere of a baker's oven in August. So long as 
these exhibitions of utter absurdity continue 
we cannot consistently harp upon woman's 
recently acquired good sense in dress. It 
seems more and more the fad for girls to boast 
that they have never worn a vulgar outfit of 
flannel undergarments, but it is quite observ- 
able that these same girls are the very ones 
who are eternally grunting and groaning and 
coughing and fussing. And how can they 
help it? You can't have good health if you 
keep yourself in a semi-refrigerated state. A 

sleeveless vest of silk is not sufficient to keep 

144 



DRESS 145 

one's body warm, even though the prettiest 
bodice in Christendom and the swellest of 
"coaties" cover it. Skirts of white muslin, with 
pretty frills and lacey trimmings that fall in 
soft folds and ruffles around one's feet, are 
mighty dainty things for the summer girl — 
but is there a colder sound than that of a 
starched white petticoat in the dead of winter? 
Bur-r-rr! it gives one the cold chilis to even 
think of it ! 

Who has not beheld the stunningly gowned 
girl stalking majestically around the shopping 
district in a little tailor-made jacket topped off 
with a fur collarette? She tells herself that she 
is perfectly warm and comfortable, but you 
and I know better, my dear, for we have seen 
her unhappy efforts to crawl up into this same 
collarette, and we have beheld her shivering 
misery as a good stiff gust of January wind 
sends her flying around a corner. : 

I am a firm believer in the tailor-made gown, 
and I am of the opinion that style often counts 
more than real beauty with women of stately 
carriage and pretty figure. But nevertheless^ 
I believe first in keeping warm and in pro- 



146 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

tecting one's health. The girl in "the smart 
little jacket could well afford to wear a winter 
coat over it on the coldest days, and even then 
she would not swelter from the heat. Really, 
it is torture for a woman of common sense to 
go along the shopping district and see her 
poor, miserable sisters who let comfort fly to 
the four winds of heaven while they revel 
madly in appearances. It's all very well, my 
girls, to look your best. But don't make 
sacrifices that will injure your health. I'd 
rather see a woman in a last winter's coat with 
the seams shiny than look upon a foolish but 
radiant creature in a bit of a cape that would 
keep her about as warm as would two good- 
sized cobwebs stitched together. The first 
woman would have the advantage of display- 
ing evidence of real brains on the inside of her 
head. And beauty without brains isn't real 
beauty at all, but a sad, shop-worn, tear- 
wringing imitation. 

It is my opinion that in choosing undercloth- 
ing for cold weather finely-woven cotton is the 
best of all. Silk is not durable, and wool, even 
of the finest quality, will often prove irritating. 



DRESS 147 

Besides, so many of us spend most of our time 
in steam-heated homes or offices that woolen 
garments keep one too warm. The cotton 
union suit makes a very desirable undergar- 
ment. This should be high-necked, long- 
sleeved, and made to come well down over the 
ankles. For the girl whose particular worry is 
a nose of flaming red, let me say that in fleece- 
lined stockings, calfskin boots and warm over- 
shoes lies her only hope of a less flamboyant 
nasal appendage. 

There is no need of fourteen petticoats, not- 
withstanding the fact that really nice old ladies 
insist upon wearing that number. One skirt 
of silk or moreen, together with a tiny short 
one of white muslin and a pair of sensible, 
warm, woolen equestrian tights will make one 
more comfortable and will allay that immense 
swelling about the hips which much be-petti- 
coated old ladies have. The tights, however, 
should be worn only when one is out of doors. 
During really cold weather no woman with 
sense enough to fill a one-grain quinine capsule 
will venture out of the house without thus 
properly clothing her lower limbs. Let 



148 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

femininity come to the understanding that in 
proper dressing and rational eating she will 
find the first and best materials for building 
her house of beauty. It's all very well to wear 
pretty, fluffy, lace-trimmed undergarments, but 
if you think that a wan, white, pinched little 
face pays you for such extravagances in silli- 
ness, then you are a ninny. Wear the fluffy 
things if you will, but put on the warm ones, 
too. In making a choice between the raiments 
of a ballet dancer and those of an Eskimo lady, 
I'd. point the finger of approval toward the. 
latter — at least at % those times when the ther- 
mometer is lounging around the zero point. 



THE THIN GIRL 



'Beauty gives 
The features perfectness, and to the form 
Its delicate proportio: — Willis. 

Diogenes and his lantern had an easy, simple 
task. If they had started out together to turn 
their searchlight of discovery upon a woman 
who was neither too fat nor too thin, no doubt 
they'd been poking around in other people's 
affairs ever since. I once heard of a woman to 
whom the idea of gaining or reducing flesh had 
never occurred, but she died before I got a 
chance to look at her, so of course I am rather 
doubtful as to the truth of the story. To my 
mind she should have been made president of 
something or other or else been put on exhibi- 
tion where the rest of suffering womankind 
could have gone and feasted their eyes upon 
such an impossible paragon. If there is not 
a general wail about over-weight or under- 
weight, then it's a thin neck, or big hips, or an 
inclination to too much "turn-turn," or skinny 

149 



IS© THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

arms, or cheeks like miniature pumpkins — and 
goodness only knows what else. And by the 
time one particular horror is massaged out of 
existence another crops up like a spook in the 
closet of a "fraidy-cat" girl, and then the busi- 
ness is begun all over again. 

Therefore, say I this: Don't worry yourself 
into your grave about too much flesh or a lack 
of it unless you find yourself taking on the 
extreme proportions of a skeleton lady, or a 
museum exhibit of unusual plumpness. A 
thin neck may be a bad thing — as all girls so 
afflicted can testify— but if that thin neck is 
rebellious, and pays absolutely no attention to 
tonics or massage or other coddling for which 
it should rightly be grateful, then merely say, 
44 All right, if you insist !" And turn your 
attention to other things. What admirer of 
feminine beauty would not look upon a bright 
mind, quick, kindly wits, and sweet lovable- 
ness as a thousand times more acceptable than 
a neck as round and perfect as that of a 
Venus? 

On the other hand, let me say that, if 
you will merely look after your health— exer- 



THE THIN GIRL 151 

cise every day, be out of doors, eat proper 
foods and take your daily sponge bath — you 
will keep your chest broad and full, and your 
waist trim and neat. Breathing exercises 
every morning are excellent for this happy 
condition of affairs. It is my firm belief that 
women could mold their bodies as they would 
if they only had patience and perseverance — 
not so much in flesh-gaining or flesh-losing, but 
in being wholesomely strong and healthy. 
This is most necessary, not only to prolong life 
and make it pleasanter and more livable in 
every way, but to be what God evidently 
intended — a robust, well-developed and per- 
fectly formed woman. 

Thin girls must be lazy and plump ones 
busy. If you work hard and have the usual 
load of worries that half the women lug about 
with them as they do their powder rags and 
their purses, then you may never hope to revel 
in a vast amount of fat. Fretters are invari- 
ably thin ; they simply worry off the flesh faster 
than nature can create it. 

When a woman is unusually slender it is her 
duty to get fat, not any more for the reason 



152 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

that she will look prettier with the angles filled 
out than for the reason that she will be 
stronger and healthier and in a better condition 
to resist illness and fatigue. She should have 
at least ten hours' sleep out of twenty-four, and 
this must be healthy sleep in a well-venti- 
lated bedroom, on a hard mattress, and with 
no high pillows to make her stoop-shouldered 
and of ungainly figure. A nap during the day 
is a good thing if one can afford the time. 
Absolute freedom from care and anxiety are 
necessary, but — alas — we cannot always regu- 
late the antics of fate or circumstances that 
deny us these sweet privileges. The diet must 
be of the most nourishing, and should consist 
mostly of food containing starch and sugar, 
such as good fresh butter, rich milk, cream, 
fruits both raw and cooked, macaroni, fish, 
corn, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, ice creams, 
desserts without pastries, and nourishing 
broths. Cereals, poultry, game, chocolate and 
sweet grapes are all excellent. Avoid all 
spiced, acid or very salty foods. While plenty 
of outdoor life is most essential, a great deal of 
exercise is not. If there is any internal 



THE THIN GIRL 153 

disease, especially the slightest inclination to 
dyspepsia or liver trouble, one cannot possibly 
gain flesh until the cause of the extreme 
slenderness is removed. When the body is 
plump in one part and fails in another, either 
massage or a gymnastic course is advised. 
Dumb-bells and Indian clubs will develop the 
arms; massage with a fattening emollient, 
together with loose clothing, tepid baths and 
breathing exercises, will increase the size of 
the chest and bust, while swimming, moderate 
bicycling and walking are good for nearly all 
plaints of the thin lady. 

But until these changes are brought about — 
and it will take lots of time — do not fret or 
worry. Merely wear your clothing very loose, 
substitute a comfortable little waist for stiff, 
unwieldy corsets, and see that your gowns are 
made full and dainty. In this last particular 
you will have an immense advantage over the 
woman who would sell the shoes off her feet to 
be thin and ' * willowy. " 



THE PLUMP GIRL 



"What's female beauty but an air divine, 
Through which the mind's all-gentle graces shine? 
They, like the sun, irradiate all between ; 
The body charms, because the soul is seen." 

— Young. 

If one had to choose between being too fat 
or too lean, the wise woman would certainly 
take the smaller allowance of flesh. Jack 
Sprat might incite pleasant ridicule, but Jack 
Sprat's wife — lo! there would be naught but 
pity and tears for her ! It is better by far to 
be the butt of jokes concerning "walking shoe- 
strings' ' or "perambulating umbrella cases" 
than to waddle through life burdened to death 
with an excessive amount of flesh. The thin 
sister can pad out the angles, put frills and 
puffy things over the bony places, but alas for 
the fat one! She gets into clothes that are 
skin-tight, and she draws in her corset string 
until it snaps and gives at every breath and 

154 



THE PLUMP GIRL 155 

sneeze, and even then she does not look grace- 
ful and pretty, for the fat — like secrets — will 
out, and it rolls over and around like the little 
bumps and humps in a pudding bag. 

Yet, after all, there's more hope for her than 
for her sister in misery. While some thin girls 
might revel in cod liver oil and nearly convert 
themselves into a hospital storeroom of tonics 
and fattening foods, they can't get round and 
rotund — the Lord seems to will it that cer- 
tain persons are to amble disconsolately through 
life minus the proper allotment of flesh. But 
with the overplump lady it all lies within her- 
self as to whether she is to be stout and buxom 
or of more artistic and beautiful proportions. 
It is simply a matter of getting up and hustling, 
a condition of animation frequently foreign to 
her nature, but not at all impossible to even 
the most unwieldy. 

While a certain careful routine of living is 
necessary for a speedy change for the better, 
the two main points to remember are diet and 
exercise. To the girl who says: "But I can't 
diet. I get hungry. I love sweets and good- 
ies, and have to have then," I must reply: 



156 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

"Well, then, be fat." What is worth having is 
worth working for, and the woman who is 
too fat for her own comfort and personal 
appearance invariably has ahead of her the 
dreadful bogy of additional flesh as the years 
go on. And surely that should be enough to 
inspire her to mend her ways. 

In beginning the change — that is, in starting- 
out on a regular system of dieting and exercis- 
ing — you should remember that the reform 
must be worked gradually. One must go 
slowly into the more healthful manner of liv- 
ing. The severe methods of flesh-reducing 
cannot be too greatly deplored, and many a 
woman has lost her life by these extreme 
measures. I do not mean that they have died 
at their exercisers or that they fell exhausted 
because they did not have enough to eat, but 
that in their mad efforts to become thin quickly 
they undermined their health and laid a good 
foundation for physical disorders. Good health, 
with too much plumpness, is preferable to 
beautiful proportions and the listlessness and 
pain of ill health. So you can follow my 
advice with the greatest safety, as health— 



THE PLUMP GIRL 15 7 

to my way of thinking — is greater than beauty, 
for the last depends upon the first, invari- 
ably. 

To-morrow, when you get up, throw on a 
loose, warm wrapper, and then open the win- 
dow. Stand in the cool, crisp morning air, 
and expand your lungs a dozen times, holding 
your hands on your hips and raising yourself 
lightly on your toes. Vary this by walking 
across the room, taking long, full breaths from 
the abdomen. This practice is equally good 
for the thin girl, or any other kind of a girl, 
for that matter. After airing your lungs close 
the window and run into the bath-room, where 
you should have a quick sponge bath, rubbing 
the body briskly with a heavy towel. A quick 
alcohol rub can follow, just as one pleases. 
For breakfast let there be fresh uncooked 
fruit, especially oranges. Tea or coffee must 
be taken clear, as neither milk nor sugar 
should be indulged in by the beauty patient 
whose chief ambition it is to lose flesh. Toast 
must always be eaten instead of bread, and 
butter used sparingly at all times. Avoid 
fats, starchy cereals, flesh -producing vege- 



158 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

tables and pastries. This is very simple, 
when you once make up your mind to it. Do 
not fancy you are thus left with nothing what- 
ever to eat — like Mother Hubbard's unhappy 
dog. Meats, either cold or broiled, are good if 
eaten in moderation. Poultry, fish and game 
are all right. Asparagus, string beans, spinach 
and tomatoes are the most appetizing of 
vegetables, and in these four alone there will 
be sufficient variety, especially when salads of 
all sorts are included, although these must, of 
course, be taken without oil. Young onions 
are also excellent, as are condiments, dried 
fruits and acidulated drinks. A hot lemonade, 
taken every night, is good, but it must have 
little sugar, else the effects of the acid will be 
overbalanced. 

As for exercise, walking is best of all. Run- 
ning is very beneficial, but the unique witti- 
cisms of the average small boy will probably 
keep this form of exercise confined strictly to 
the house. Begin by walking half a mile for 
several days, then make the distance a mile, 
and keep increasing your daily walk until you 
cover at least five miles. That may sound like 



THE PLUMP GIRL 159 

an impossibility, but don't you believe it, for 
it's not at all. In Great Britain a walk of fif- 
teen miles is not considered half an effort, and 
who does not know that the English girls have 
the most superb complexions in the world' 
Besides this, they are healthy, wholesome, 
well-developed women, and that counts a good 
deal in the race for beauty. If the five-mile 
walk is too exhausting, then take a longer time 
getting to the point, when it will be exhilar- 
ating instead of enervating. 

Sleep must be limited to seven hours, and 
daily naps are strictly tabooed. To those who 
prefer, mechanical massage -can be given, and 
this will take the place of long walks, although 
they are really preferable, as the fresh air is 
necessary. Oxygen destroys or burns out car- 
bon, and carbon is fat. The more exercise and 
fresh air, the more exygen, and consequently 
destruction of fat by the one healthy means of 
remedying obesity. Soda phosphates and the 
various fat-reducing preparations are not desir- 
able. The only way to cajole willowiness of 
body into coming in your direction is to diet 
and to take plenty of exercise. Do not drink 



160 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

much water. A little lemon juice added to it 
will make it less fattening. 

There, now, plump lady, are your rules! 
Abide by them and your woes will surely dis- 
appear with a swiftness that will make you 
laugh. 



THE WORKING GIRL 



"Labor is life! — 'Tis the still water faileth; 
Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth; 
Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth." 
— Mrs. Frances S. Osgood. 

It has often occurred to me that there are a 
vast number of plucky little bread-winning 
girls and women to whom even a tiny jar of 
creme marquise is a hopeless impossibility. 
For them is this chapter written. 

In the first place, we all feel pretty sure that 
— in the great, wonderful beginning of things 
— it was never meant that women should work. 
We can't help knowing this when we look 
about us every night at six o'clock and see the 
weary, patient, brave little faces that line 
either side of the elevated trains or the 
crowded street cars. Women are not given to 
the solving of problems, so we won't go into 
the great "whys" or the "wherefores. " That's 
a loss of time anyhow. But we will do heaps 
better than that. We will try to be hopeful 

161 



162 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

and cheery, and learn how to make the best of 
the little happinesses that do come our way. 

The working girl — and we all take off our 
hats to her pluck — needs more than any other 
class of womankind to take care of her health. 
She is out in all kinds of weather, she works 
hard, and ofttimes struggles through a daily 
routine that is harrowing beyond everything. 
After hours there is mending to be done, or a 
thousand and one little duties to keep her busy 
until, tired out and nerve-weary, she goes to 
bed to gain rest and strength for the struggles 
of the morrow. She cannot afford the little 
luxuries of the toilet that are so dear and near 
to the heart of womankind the world over. 
The joys of having her hair "done or her 
pretty cheeks massaged are not hers — and the 
pity of it is that often enough the fault lies not 
within herself, but in the unhappy circum- 
stances of fate that have placed her among the 
less fortunate sisterhood. 

Let a large bar of castile soap be the work- 
ing girl's first investment. I say a "large" bar 
for the reason that it is much cheaper when 
bought that way. A good-sized piece of the 



THE WORKING GIRL 163 

pure white castile can be bought at some of the 
drug stores for fifteen or twenty cents. This 
should be cut into small cakes and put on a 
high shelf, where it will become dry and hard 
and so it will be more lasting. With plenty of 
warm water, a few good wash-rags and this 
pure soap you will have a beauty outfit that 
will be more beneficial than all the rouges and 
eyebrow pencils that were ever put into the 
windows of beauty shops. 

The bath should be daily. Now do not say 
that you have not the time, for the sponge bath 
— which w r ill make the blood tingle and the 
flesh glow — can be got through with in almost 
no time. It is most imperative that the secre- 
tions of the skin and the dust gathered during 
the day should be removed. When the body is 
not kept scrupulously clean the complexion is 
sure to suffer, for there the pores of the skin 
are most susceptible, and eruptions and black- • 
heads come from very slight causes. When 
the hands become rough and tender, and will 
not stand soap, prepare a little almond meal. 
This, too, is very inexpensive, for, instead of 
the powdered almonds, you can use the pressed 



i64 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

almond cake, which is nearly as good and very 
cheap, and in place of the orris root wheat flour 
can be used. Take three ounces of the first 
and seven of the latter. If you can afford it, 
add a little powdered talcum. A cream for the 
face and hands, and one which can be used 
with perfect safety, is benzoinated mutton 
tallow. This is simply the best mutton tallow 
to which benzoin has been added, and both 
ingredients kept at a steady heat until the alco- 
hol of the benzoin has been completely evap- 
orated. 

About the hair : The greatest secret of lux- 
uriant locks is absolute cleanliness. There are 
many women who vainly fancy that they keep 
their pretty locks perfectly clean, when they 
really do not at all. Only plenty of running 
water can thoroughly rinse the soap or sham- 
poo out. If the hair is at all sticky, or if a 
slight oily substance adheres to the comb, then 
the hair is not clean. (And let me say right 
here, combs and brushes too must be kept as 
scrupulously clean as the hair itself.) Castile 
soap makes the best shampoo in the world, 
especially when a little piece is dissolved in 



THE WORKING GIRL 165 

warm water and a tiny bit of ammonia or alco- 
hol added, although for dry hair neither the 
alcohol nor ammonia is at all necessary. If a 
tonic is needed, then use the sage tea, which, 
however, must not be put on light, blond 
tresses. Common kerosene, if one can endure 
the odor, is an unsurpassed remedy for falling 
hair. Rubbing the scalp every night with the 
finger tips until the flesh tingles and glows is a 
most inexpensive w T ay of stimulating the circu- 
lation, and frequently makes the hair grow long 
and nice and fine. 

What one eats plays such a leading part 
in the beauty-getting efforts — but I have 
but little space left now to tell about that. 
Summed up in a nutshell, it is this: Eat very 
little pastry, and shun greasy foods or fat 
meats, like pork or bacon. Pin your faith to 
vegetables and fruit. A luncheon of two ap- 
ples is of greater nourishment, and more real 
value to good looks, than a repast of mince pie 
and coffee — two unspeakable horrors to any 
one who regards health and beauty as worth 
the having or the striving for. 

As for the dress, I could write a seven vol- 



1 66 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

ume treatise on that. It sounds prosy, I 
know, and very stupid, but let me tell you that 
it is the wise girl who buys for comfort, utility 
and wear, instead of style and elaborateness./ 
A plain little fedora, if well brushed, makes a 
trimmer, neater appearance than a cheap vel- 
vet hat ornamented with feathers that have 
straightened out and flowers that have long 
since lost their glory in the rains and storms 
of autumn time. It is the same way with 
shoes and gloves. If one can possibly afford 
it, calfskin boots and heavy gloves should 
always be purchased. They will not only out- 
wear two or three pairs of the lighter, less 
durable kind, but they will give warmth and 
comfort and a well-groomed look as well. 



THE NERVOUS ONE 



"The beautiful seems right by force of beauty; and 
the feeble wrong because of weakness." — Elizabeth 
Barrett Browning. 

Of all the unfortunates on the face of the 
globe there is none so worthy of real all-wool 
pity and yard-wide sympathy as the woman of 
nerves. Yes, and her family needs a dash of 
consolation, too. One nervous woman can 
create more nervousness among other women 
than could a cageful of mice or a colony of 
cows suddenly let loose. It is not for herself 
that the fuss-budget should mend her ways, 
but for the great good of humanity at large. 

We are all of us more or less nervous, and it 
is really interesting to observe what strange 
outlets woman's natural nervousness chooses. 

11 I'd walk from Hyde Park to the city hall 
at midnight and never be a bit scared. But let 
me stay in the flat alone after dark and I 'm in 

a state of terror that would make you weep 

167 



1 68 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

were you to behold me," confesses nervous 
lady No. i. 

"I have nerves of iron,'' pipes up nervous 
lady No. 2. "Except when there is a thunder- 
storm. Then I wish I were as dead as Julius 
Caesar. ' ' 

"Well!" drawls nervous lady No. 3. "I 
don't believe in ghosts at all, but I'm scared to 
death of 'em. Sometimes I not only keep the 
gas burning all night, but I sit up in bed so as 
to be right ready to run away from 'em." 

Some people have contempt for the nervous 
ones. I have only pity. Any one who has 
gone through the tortures of hearing im- 
aginary burglars three nights in the week for 
ten or twelve years on an endless stretch needs 
consolation and then a good, straight talk on 
the beautiful convenience of horse sense. 
Most women are always hearing burglars. 
Probably one in a thousand turns out to be a 
real, live housebreaker. Whenever the wise 
woman hears one fussing with the lock on the 
front door or trying to squeeze into the pantry 
window, she just says: "Same old burglar. 
He'll be gone in the morning, " and he always 



THE NERVOUS ONE 169 

is. That's a heap better plan than arousing 
the household and suffering the unmerciful 
torture that a family given to ridicule can 
inflict. 

I heard a woman say the other day that she 
never knew what it was to be nervous until a 
certain ragman began to take pedestrian exer- 
cises up and down the alley back of her house. 
He carries a canvas bag over his shoulder, and 
he yells "Eny ol' racks" until that woman 
locks herself in a closet and stuffs sofa cushions 
into her ears. His "Eny ol' racks" has got 
on her nerves so that she is simply beside her- 
self until that man takes himself and his yell 
out of hearing distance. To be sure, he yells 
through his nose, but why in the world that 
woman should make herself miserable about 
something she can't possibly help is a double- 
turreted mystery to me. The thing for her to 
•do is to sit down placidly on the back porch 
and make up her mind that the ragman is not 
going to upset the tranquillity of her existence ; 
that he hasn't any right to interfere with her 
happiness, and that she isn't going to be fool 
enough to let him. I'll wager a peseta against 



170 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

a gum drop that she could do it, too, and with- 
out half an effort, if she would only once be 
consistent and determined. 

There is no use in beating about the bush. 
I feel sorry for the nervous woman at all times 
and every day in the week, but there's no 
chance of a doubt that the nervous woman is 
mentally unbalanced for want of courage and 
lack of will power. Some place, way back in 
the far corners of her intellect, there are 
numerous little sore spots that need the healing 
tonic of level-headedness and the bravery of 
belief in her own strength. Those wise gentle- 
men of pellets and pills tell us that when there 
is a defect in the structure of the nervous sys- 
tem, some certain region of cells not well 
flushed with blood is usually at the bottom of 
the infirmity. The cure, they say, is discipline 
and training, good food, exercise and plenty of 
sleep and good fresh air. 

Sunlight is a glorious medicine for the 
woman of nerves. If I had a nervous fuss- 
budget under my care, the first thing I would 
do would be to feed her well. I'd give her 
nourishing broths and daintily-served vege- 



THE NERVOUS ONE 171 

;ables, and little steaks and chops and plenty of 
"attening cereals and drinks. I would bundle 
ler off to the parks every morning with sealed 
orders not to come back until she was dead 
tired and as hungry as a small girl at a board- 
ing school. I would impress upon her mind 
the great need of throwing worry to the winds 
and taking in good, long breaths of God's 
blessed fresh air. Then, after feeding her 
some more, I'd make her take a nice, refresh- 
ing sponge bath and tumble early into bed. 
After several days of such treatment I'd corner 
her where she couldn't get away and lay down 
the laws. 

44 Now it's just with yourself," the lecture 
would begin with, "whether you are to be a 
jolly-hearted, wholesome-looking woman or a 
tailor-made gown with a bundle of nerves inside 
of it. No matter what comes, don't make your- 
self wretched by fretting. Every one has 
troubles. You can't escape them. Sometimes 
they come with a sweep like tornadoes gone 
mad, and you'll say to yourself : 'My heavens! I 
wonder if I'll live through it all?' But you 
will, and between you and me, my dear, it's just 



172 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

as well to come out of the battle with a smiling 
face as with eight additional crow's feet and a 
new scolding lock of gray hair. Just say to 
yourself: 'I will not grind my teeth because 
the man next to me in the street car is 
chewing a toothpick. I am not responsible 
for his lack of manners. I positively refuse 
to have fits because the woman in the flat 
next to mine plays the flute eight hours a 
day. If it's convenient I'll move; if it isn't 
I'll not make existence a daylight night- 
mare. ' 

"School yourself!" I will continue. "Get 
lots of starch in you and a backbone that is a 
backbone! Don't fall down in a heap and 
mope over things you can't help„ The agree- 
able things in life are as rare as sage-brush 
growing in Gotham, while the disagreeable is 
bobbing up eternally. So brace up, my 
friend, and make the best of it. Discipline 
yourself. Keep your mind fresh and bright, 
and your body strong and healthy. If you 
have hard work to do then do it with the least 
possible expenditure of worry and nerve-force. 
Be in the open air as much as you can, and 



THE NERVOUS ONE 173 

above everything else dwell not on the 
unhealthy state of your nerves, Let self= 
mastery be your shibboleth and 4 no nerves' 
your prayer, M 



PERFUMES 

"Oh, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem, 
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give ! 
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem, 
For that sweet odor which doth in it live." 

— Shakespeare. 

Women love delicate perfumes as they do 
silk stockings and violets. It's just "born in 
'em," like their deep-rooted horror of mice and 
bills and burglars. From the time when the 
baby girl sniffs the sweetness of the powder 
puff as it fluffs about her soft, pretty neck until 
the white-haired lady lovingly fondles the 
lavender sachets that lie between the folds of 
her time-yellowed wedding gown, she loves 
sweet odors. 

The true gentlewoman never uses strong 
perfumes, yet her hats and clothing and hand- 
kerchiefs always send forth a faint scent of 
fragrant flowers. The odor is so very slight 
that it does not suggest the dashing on of per- 
fume, but, instead, bespeaks scrupulous cleanli- 

174 



PERFUMES 175 

ness of body and garments, with perhaps an 
added suggestion of the soft Is that bl 

over a clover field. Xo perfume at all is Ear 
better than too much, for who does not lc 

Eh suspicious eyes upon the woman who, 
when passing one on the street, seems to be in 
an invisible vapor of white rose or jockey club 
— strong enough to work on the streets ; 

There is a secret about it all, and such a 
simple one! It is merely choosing one pari 
ular odor and using it in every possible way. 
There is nothing sweeter than violet perfume. 
so suppose I illustrate with that? Begin 
using orris root for your teeth, combined 
course, with the other necessary ingredients. 
Then, if you can afford it, get the expensive 
imported violet soaps, although as a matter of 

ratifying there is nothing better than the 
pure white castile. The odor of this, disliked 
by some, can be entirely done away v, 
using a little violet toilet water in the bath and 
touching the ear lobes with it afterward. 

e folds of your gowns and 
in the crowns ur hats lay little violet 

sachets, always removing them before the 



176 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

gown or hat is worn, as the perfume must be 
faint and delicate. A few drops of essence of 
violet will scent your face powder, if it is not 
already perfumed, and bath bags of orris — and 
other good things — will add to your galaxy of 
sweet odors. If you use creme marquise or 
any of the other delightful cosmetics told about 
in our beauty book, add a little essence of 
violets to them while they are being mixed. 
Putting it all in a nutshell : Simply choose your 
favorite perfume and carry it out in every 
detail. For those who are fond of violet I will 
give the following recipes : 

Creme de la Violettes: Place in a porcelain 
kettle one ounce each of white wax and sper- 
maceti, cut in fine shavings. When melted 
add to this five ounces oil of sweet almonds and 
heat, but do not let boil. Remove from fire 
and pour in quickly one and one-half ounces of 
rose-water in which ten grains of borax has 
been dissolved. Beat briskly. When begin- 
ning to thicken, add one-half teaspoonful 
essence of violets. When nearly cold put in 
little jars. Use as cold cream or any general 
face cosmetic. It is more effective when 



PERFUMES 177 

applied at night, just after the face is bathed in 
warm water and while the flesh is pink and moist. 

Perfume — Violettes de Bois : 
Essence of violets, five ounces. 
Essence of acacia, one ounce. 
Essence of rose, one ounce. 
Extract of iris root, one ounce. 
Oil of bitter almonds, five drops. 

Violet Lotion: 

Alcohol, four ounces. 
Ammonia, one ounce. 
Essence of violets, one dram. 

Add one teaspoonful of this to a bowl of 
water when bathing the face, neck and arms. 
Hard water is the cause of many bad complex- 
ions, and this will remedy that particular 
trouble of the beauty-seeker. 

Poudre de Vicomtesse : 
Talcum powder, seven and one-half ounces. 
Finest starch, one and one-fourth ounces. 
Powdered orris root, one and one-fourth 

ounces. 
Oil of orris, ten drops. 



178 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Violet Bath Bags : 

Two pounds of finely ground oatmeal. 

Three ounces of almond flour. 

One cake of best white castile soap, shaved 
fine. 

One-quarter pound powdered orris root. 

Take one yard of cheese cloth and make it 
into little bags about four inches square and 
fill with the mixture. These will make a soft 
white lather, and afterward the face, neck and 
arms should be rinsed in water containing a 
few drops of benzoin. Larger bags can be 
made for the regular bath. 

For the Teeth : 
One-fourth pound of prepared chalk, finely 

powdered. 
Three-fourths ounce pulverized castile soap. 
One ounce powdered orris root. 
One-half dram oil of sassafras. 
One ounce pulverized sugar. 

Violet Sachet: 

Black currant leaves, powdered, one-fourth 

pound. 
Rose leaves, one-fourth pound. 



PERFUMES 179 

Cassia buds, one-eighth pound. 

Orris, ground, one-half pound. 

Gum benzoin, one-eighth pound. 

Grain musk, powdered, one-fourth dram. 

Mix thoroughly and let stand for one week. 

Violet Toilet Water: 

Essence of violet, one and three-fourth 

ounces. 
Essence of rose, one-half ounce. 
Essence of cassie, one-half ounce. 
Alcohol, 14 ounces. 

Essence de Fleur d'Oranges 
One-half ounce pure neroli. 
One pint alcohol. 
One ounce essence of jonquille. 

Violet Sachet Powder: 
Eight ounces of orris root. 
Five drops oil of bergamot. 
Three drops oil of bitter almonds. 
Four drops oil of rose. 
One fluid dram tincture of musk. 
Mix thoroughly. 



180 THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

Lavender Sachet Powder: 

One pound powdered lavender. 
One-quarter pound gum benzoin (powdered). 
Six ounces oil of lavender. 
Mix. 

Heliotrope Sachet Powder: 
One-quarter pound rose leaves. 
Two ounces tonquin, ground fine. 
One-quarter pound pulverized orris root. 
One ounce vanilla (powdered). 
One-half grain musk. 
Two drops oil of almonds. 
Mix by fluffing through a sieve. 



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